Utilitarianism

• Who are the main philosophers behind utilitarianism

  Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
• What is Utility


  Utility is the usefulness (or purpose) of an action
• The Principle of Utility

  " The greatest good for the greatest number"
• Hedonism & Maximising Utility

  • Wherever possible we should instinctively try to avoid pain and seek pleasure
  • The balance between pleasure and pain is what we should focus on to make a moral decision
  • An action has utility if it brings about pleasure/happiness or avoids pain but we must consider the community, not just our own happiness or pleasure when doing so
• Hedonic calculus (Bentham's Act quantitative)

  • Quantitative system to maximising utility
  • It involves 7 different criteria to measure pain and pleasure
• What are the 7 criteria to hedonic calc. (PREDICT)

  • P- Predict
  • R- Remoteness
  • E- Extent
  • D- Duration
  • I- Intensity
  • C- Certainty
  • T- Fecundity (To be followed by)
• Problems with Hedonic Calculus

  • Main problem - rating is subjective
  • You cannot predict the consequences
  • How can you properly quantitate for every aspect
  • There are a lot more other options to take
  • Time consuming --> not feasible
• What is John Stuart Mill's qualitative utilitarianism?


  Mill's qualitative utilitarianism argues that **pleasures differ in quality**, not just quantity. Higher pleasures (e.g., intellectual, moral) are more valuable than lower pleasures (e.g., physical).
• What is the greatest happiness principle in Mill's utilitarianism?


  The greatest happiness principle states that actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong if they produce the **opposite of happiness**. Happiness is defined as pleasure and the absence of pain.
• Mill's proof:


  Step 1: from desire to desirable

  1. the only evidence that something is visible is that it can actually be seen, likewise audible and heard
  2. similarly, the only evidence that something is desirable is that it is actually desired
  3. Each person desires their own happiness
  4. Therefore each persons happiness is desirable