This is actually a cool thought. What should the the goal for a parent? Should that goal even be universal?
If you ask parents what they want for their kids, many will say "I just want them to be happy." But there are drugs that achieve this, and taking them results in disaster. So that is probably not what we should want.
(Thanks to @moigottweets for pointing this out to me.)
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Success. A parent should have a goal for their child to be successful.
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This is a criticism of Bentham's utilitarianism in general!
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Ultiliteranism is mostly concerned about pleasure or utility, not really happiness. They want you to maximize the things that bring you pleasure not happiness.
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Drugs don't make people happy. They make them feel good for a brief amount of time followed by withdrawal.
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There are no drugs that grant you happiness wtf Paul Graham what are you talking about?
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Instead of splitting hairs about what various drugs make you feel, suppose there were a drug that made people feel happiness. Surely it would be a disaster to start taking it.
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Parents want real happiness, those drugs cannot provide that
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I think "I just want them to be happy" is shorthand for "I just want them to maximize happiness over a long lifespan", which obviously excludes a ton of short-term happiness / long-term detrimental stuff.
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Yes. I want them to be fulfilled. Drugs won't do that.
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