theory of utilitarianism, are generally thought of as good guys. “The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation,” Bentham once famously articulated. Yet dig a little deeper and a trickier, quirkier, murkier picture emerges—one of ruthless selectivity and treacherous moral riptides. Crafting that legislation, for example, excavating those morals, will inevitably necessitate riding roughshod over someone else’s interests.
