Reform Philosophy Must Transition from Utilitarianism to Rights-Priority

Abstract

Until now, we could say China’s reforms were utilitarian reforms. The basic philosophy of utilitarian reforms is that society’s greatest “good” is economic development, in particular gross domestic product (GDP) growth. The standard for evaluating any policy is whether it benefits economic development and GDP growth. Anything that benefits GDP growth is good. Anything that is harmful to GDP growth is bad. For GDP growth, we can even disregard people’s basic rights and dignity.