one of the decisive objections to utilitarianism (the theory of ethics that says that we should do whatever will bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people) is that we have no idea of the ultimate outcome of our actions. Some short-term good might actually lead to untold misery, while some action that looks disastrous in the short term may bring about the greatest good. We don’t have a clue. Once we contemplate God’s providence over the whole of human history, I think you can see how hopeless it is for finite, limited observers to speculate about the probability that
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