Utilitarianism

• teleological

  focused on the consequence
• JS. Mill - Rule Utilitarianism

  • promotes liberty and freedom, no harm principle
  • higher and lower pleasures
  • common good
• pros of rule utilitarianism

  • fair
  • priorities happiness
  • universal
• cons of rule utilitarianism

  rigid higher and lower pleasures
• Singer - preference utilitarianism

  • altruistic, prioritises other
  • rich should help the poor
  • speciesism
• cons of preference utilitarianism

  • hard to put others first
  • speciesism is unrealistic
• pros of preference utilitarianism

  • selfless
  • minimises pain
  • charitable
• Bentham - act utilitarianism

  • ‘greatest good for the greatest number’
  • principle of utility, ‘seek always the greatest balance of good over evil’
  • Hedonic Calculus, aims to maximise pleasure over pain by determining 7 things, eg. intensity, purity, duration
• cons of act utilitarianism

  • too complex
  • assumes everyone has the same idea of the greatest good
  • ignores minority, eg. gang rape
• pros of act utilitarianism

  • personalist
  • natural for humans to want pleasure over pain, logical
  • common sense
  • simple
  • popular
  • accessible