[kelnos]

Except that eventually the mugger will run out of fingers (and/or reattaching them will eventually start not working out), so the mugger will be forced to stop mugging. Well, ok, they could start cutting off toes, or threaten some other form of bodily mutilation.

But regardless, giving in to the mugger enables the mugger to continue mugging indefinitely. Not giving in -- assuming the mugger goes through with whatever self-mutilation they've threatened -- will eventually cause the mugger to stop mugging. This would be a net positive, better than allowing the mugger to mug indefinitely.

On top of that, I was disappointed that, in the story, Bentham does actually bring up the idea that capitulating could encourage copycats to run similar schemes, but this rationale for not cooperating is hand-waved away. This is pretty standard "don't negotiate with terrorists" stuff. Giving in just tells the mugger -- and other potential muggers -- that this strategy works. Surely it's more utilitarian to stamp this out at the source, even if it costs the original mugger some fingers.

(But I guess this is in part the point of Bentham being an act utilitarian in the first encounter, as he wouldn't consider the larger implications of his actions, just on the specific, immediate result of the action in front of him.)