A happiness pump is a
philosophical
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
thought experiment
A thought experiment is an imaginary scenario that is meant to elucidate or test an argument or theory. It is often an experiment that would be hard, impossible, or unethical to actually perform. It can also be an abstract hypothetical that is ...
. It is a critique of
utilitarianism
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...
. A happiness pump is someone who will do anything to increase other people's well-being even if it reduces their own profoundly.
They have turned themselves into a machine (a "pump") that makes happiness.
Utilitarianism states that actions that make more happiness or less pain are good and actions that reduce happiness or increase pain are bad and treats them as measurable and discrete. In utilitarianism, it does not matter who is becoming happier or feeling less pain. The happiness pump is a person who has taken utilitarianism too far and will give themselves great pain so long as they believe it makes other people somewhere in the world much happier.
Philosopher
Joshua David Greene says it is almost impossible for a happiness pump to exist in real life because anyone who tried would give up very shortly.
In popular culture
A happiness pump character, Doug Forcett, appears in one episode of the television show ''
The Good Place''.
He's a man who accidentally received an insight into the rules of the afterlife while using psychedelic drugs, and he decides to have a torturously ascetic life devoid of anything that could cause suffering or even inconvenience of other living beings. That being said, he's hinted to be doing it for selfish reason of being admitted into the Good Place, the paradise afterlife.
Related pages
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The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
References
Utilitarianism
Consequentialism
Thought experiments
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