Utilitarianism: Moral Philosophy

• Utilitarians believe that the right action is one which produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
• The word utility derives from the Latin ‘utilis’ which means useful or beneficial.
• He claims that doing good is one of the few things that is intrinsically good because those who have the desire to do good get pleasure from doing so.
• The theory behind utilitarianism is to maximise utility.
• This is done by doing or causing the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
• Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory and a teleological theory.
• Consequentialist theories are formed from the idea that the consequences of an action is what makes the action right or wrong.
• Teleological theories focus on the end result of an action.
• Utilitarianism supports the belief that actions are instrumental and it how we affect people and ourselves it what makes an action good or bad.
• There is a smaller branch of utilitarianism called hedonistic utilitarianism.
• This focuses on the pleasure (happiness) and pain (unhappiness) that an action causes.
• The Trolley Problem can be used as a way to show utilitarianism.
• The dilemma is that a train is heading down the tracks towards 5 people who will be killed if the train continues on its present course.
• There is a person next to a switch that will divert the train away from the 5 people should it be pulled, however on the other track there is one person who will die if the train is diverted.
• Democracy is a theory that prioritises the best course of action to better the majority and is the most progressive way to run the country.
• Utilitarianism agrees that people seek pleasure/happiness and will avoid pain/unhappiness.
• Utilitarianism says blind obedience to moral rules is wrong because:
• We abandon moral responsibility.
• Act utilitarianism does not respect individual rights or liberty because it doesn’t recognise any restrictions on actions that create the greatest happiness.
• Utilitarianism is a theory that understands it is important to take the situation and foreseeable consequences into account when deciding on the morality of an action.
• Utilitarianism can help us come to a moral solution for any dilemma.
• Utilitarianism places the importance of the majority of others above your own personal interests, this is altruism.
• Utilitarianism says that only happiness is good and only unhappiness is bad.
• Refusal to consider the consequences of our actions can lead to terrible outcomes.
• Utilitarianism weighs up the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed action rather than being influenced by our prejudices or fears.
• Utilitarianism enables people to decide rationally, without emotion, in a moral dilemma.
• A utilitarian would divert the train to kill the one person instead of 5 because they believe that will minimise the pain caused and maximise the pleasure gained overall.
• Jeremy Bentham furthered the principle of hedonistic utilitarianism by creating the utility calculus.
• Jeremy Bentham states that maximising pleasure is morally good and maximising pain is morally bad.
• Jeremy Bentham believed it was important to reduce pain first and then look at pleasure.
• This would also apply to someone who prefers high quality pleasures over low quality pleasures.
• The value of a pleasure is determined by competent judges who have experienced both types of pleasure.
• Mill’s ‘proof’ of the greatest happiness principle is based on the assumption that what is true of vision is also true of desire.
• These type of utilitarians will make decisions based on moral rules created by turning the actions which generally provide the most happiness into moral rules that have to be followed.
• Mills believes that in order to achieve some pleasures, you have to go through the pain first but it doesn’t make the pleasure any less good.
• Criticisms of rule- Mill utilitarianism include the fact that sometimes these rules prevent people from doing the greatest good.
• Hedonistic utilitarianism focuses on the pleasure caused by an action and the greater the pleasure, the greater the utility.
• Mill claims that whatever we desire for it’s own sake is part of what happiness is for us.
• Socrates believed that as human beings we should be above physical pleasures and stated that low quality pleasures were usually physical pleasures such as food and drink, and pleasures that do not develop our potential like reading comics and watching tv.
• Criticisms of hedonistic utilitarianism include the fact in some situations it justifies murder.