Bentham Summary

• What is the hedonic calculus?

  Measures the pleasure and pain generated by an action
• What is Act Utilitarianism?

  Assess every individual act. Different response for each situation based on what brings the most pleasure
• What is the Principle of Utility?

  Measures if an act is good or bad according to the usefulness of the act
• Evaluating Bentham's Act Utilitarianism 1

  Objection: puts too much emphasis on the consequences of our acts, whereas we do not know the future

  Bentham's response: most moral situations we encounter are 'general classes of acts' and we know very well that acts such as murder, theft and robbery cause pain
• Evaluating Bentham's Act Utilitarianism 2

  Objection: it ignores motives, rules and duties, and these are morally crucial

  Bentham's response: Rules are useful because they have been shown to bring happiness but where they do not it is right to abandon them. The motive of a utilitarian is the same as the intended consequence
• Evaluating Bentham's Act Utilitarianism 3

  Objection: utilitarianism ignores minority rights

  Bentham's response: injustice to the majority is worse than injustice to the minority, so what should you do?