Utilitarianism

• Bentham’s Act utilitarianism


  • Jeremy Bentham invented the first form of Utilitarianism – Act utilitarianism
  • He wanted to devise a morality reflecting an atheistic understanding of what it meant to be human
  • Claimed that pleasure and pain determine what we ought to do
  • Principle of utility: An action is good if it leads to the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people
• Mill: '“It is quite compatible with the principle of utility to recognise the fact, that some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others”'
• Bentham’s felicific/hedonic calculus

  1. Method for measuring pleasure with seven criteria

  2. Allows calculation of which action results in greater pleasure
• Mill’s claim


  It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied
• Utilitarianism

  Consequentialist ethical theory where the consequences of an action determine its goodness
• Mill’s qualitative Utilitarianism

  • Distinguishes between higher and lower pleasures
  • Higher pleasures are superior to lower pleasures
  • Higher pleasures are of greater quality and value
  • Preference of higher pleasures by competent judges
• Bentham: '“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure’”'
• Mill: '“we are justified in ascribing to the preferred enjoyment a superiority in quality, so far outweighing quantity as to render it, in comparison, of small account”'
• Beings prefer the highest mental pleasure they are capable of experiencing over lower pleasures
• Not everyone always chooses higher pleasures over lower ones
• Mill agrees with Bentham’s principle of Utility
• Mill’s Rule Utilitarianism was an attempt to improve on Bentham’s
• People acquainted with both higher and lower pleasures show a great preference for the higher pleasures
• Rule Utilitarianism adds the idea of following rules to the principle of utility
• Mill: '“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides”'
• Weak Rule Utilitarianism is the view that rules can be broken if it maximises happiness
• An action is good in Rule Utilitarianism if it conforms to a rule which maximises happiness
• The ability to experience higher pleasures requires careful cultivation which is easily lost
• Strong Rule Utilitarianism is criticised for becoming deontological
• Higher pleasures of the mind are preferred and pursued while sacrificing comfort
• Mill’s version of Rule Utilitarianism arguably avoids the issues of strong and weak varieties
• What makes an action good in Mill’s Rule Utilitarianism is the degree to which it promotes happiness over suffering
• Humans can experience mental pleasures of a higher quality than the low pleasures that both humans and pigs can experience
• Examples of pursuing higher pleasures

  • An artist suffering from financial deprivation to produce art
  • A piano player practicing diligently to experience the pleasure of playing genius compositions
  • A student studying diligently for exams to pursue the pleasure of development and mastery
• People will put up with discontent to get higher pleasures and would not lose them even for any quantity of a lower pleasure
• Mill: '“Capacity for the nobler feelings is in most natures a very tender plant, easily killed, not only by hostile influences, but by mere want of sustenance...”'
• Strong Rule Utilitarianism is the view that rules should be followed no matter the situation
• The goal of moral action in Mill’s Rule Utilitarianism is to maximise happiness
• Weak Rule Utilitarianism is criticised for reducing into act utilitarianism
• It is extremely difficult to calculate which action will maximise happiness
• Principle of Utility


  Called the ‘first principle’ by Mill
• To resolve conflicts in secondary principles, a direct appeal to the first principle of utility becomes necessary
• Murder and theft are pointed out by Mill as injurious to human happiness
• Criticisms of Utilitarianism include problems with calculation
• Principle of Utility


  The goal of moral action is to maximise happiness
• Mill disagreed with Bentham’s approach of judging every action by the principle of utility
• Mill suggests that sometimes individual actions should be judged to resolve a conflict or applicability issue in rules/principles
• Our actual moral obligation is to follow whatever secondary principles humanity’s current level of understanding has produced regarding how to gain happiness and minimise suffering
• Problems with Utilitarianism

  • Need to know the future
  • Need to make complex calculations
  • Objective measuring of subjective mental states like pleasure and pain
• The harm principle states that people should be free to do what they want as long as they aren’t harming others