Zhuāngzĭ and Ailton Krenak Against Utilitarianism

Despite temporal and geographical differences, two thinkers impacted their contexts with similar critiques of a type of reasoning they called “utilitarianism”: Zhuāngzǐ 莊子 (Chi­na, 369–286 BCE) and Ailton Krenak (Brazil, born 1953). While Zhuāngzǐ pointed out the limits of the utilitarianism defended by philosophers of his time, such as the Mohists, Krenak turns against colonialism and capitalism in Brazil. So, how can their critiques of utilitarianism contribute to the discussion of its limitations? In this text, we aim to compare these two author’s ideas, seeking to conceptualize their concerns about how to understand the value of life and human beings beyond utilitarianism. Our method consists of three steps: (1) to outline historically and conceptually the notion of “utilitarianism”; (2) present Zhuāngzǐ’s and Krenak’s critique of utilitarianism; and (3) to develop a com­parative analysis of these authors based on the proposed framework. Even with distinct contexts and targets, we identified that both mobilize two counterarguments to utilitarian­ism: (1) life is worth more than objective utility, and therefore evaluating and considering beings based on the concept of utility is limited; (2) the perspectivism of utility itself, since things can have multiple uses in different situations beyond the utilitarian’s imme­diate utility. However, while Zhuāngzǐ presents an aversion to official policy, Krenak demonstrates the need for collective and political change, as opposed to individualistic solutions, if we want to survive.