Utilitarianism

• Telos


  A Greek term used by philosopher Aristotle to refer to the purpose or goal of a person or thing, similar to the notion of an end goal
• Teleological approach to moral decision making


  Focuses on the consequences of an action
• Teleological theories


  • Situation Ethics
  • Utilitarianism
• Utilitarianism believes that an act is neither good nor bad, but the consequences of that act determine whether it is moral
• Utilitarianism evaluates the morality of an action based on consequences
• Jeremy Bentham: '"By utility is meant that property in any object, whereby it tends to"'
• Utilitarianism seeks to achieve the greatest good or benefit for the greatest number, evaluating actions by their intended results
• Utilitarianism is relativist and teleological
• Jeremy Bentham developed Utilitarianism as a theory to make society fairer and more equal
• Jeremy Bentham wanted to define right and wrong without the need for a transcendent authority (God)
• In Introduction to the Principles of Morals & Legislation (1789), the author tried to establish a way of arguing for something to be good and bad according to its benefit for the majority of people
• Principle of Utility


  Property that tends to produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, good, or happiness, or prevent the happening of mischief, pain, evil, or unhappiness
• Bentham's Theory


  Divided into three parts: Bentham's View, Bentham's Rule, Bentham's System
• Bentham believed that humans are motivated by a desire to experience as much pleasure as possible in their lives and to avoid pain
• For Bentham, the utility or usefulness of an action determined whether it was right or wrong
• Bowie: '"Good is the maximisation of pleasure and the minimisation of pain."'
• Bentham believed an action was good if it brought about the greatest happiness for the greatest number (Greatest Happiness Principle)
• Hedonic Calculus


  Way to measure pleasure in order to make moral decisions
• Utilitarianism, according to Bentham, is a quantitative approach, meaning the greatest number. To measure pleasure for the most amount of people, Bentham proposed the Hedonic calculus
• Quantitative


  Meaning the greatest number
• Weakness quantity pleasure
• Measure pleasure for the most amount of people


  Bentham proposed the Hedonic calculus
• Hedonic calculus


  Weighs up the pain and pleasure generated by an action. The action is morally good if it produces the most pleasure for the greatest number
• Criteria for Hedonic calculus

  • Purity
  • Remoteness
  • Richness
  • Intensity
  • Certainty
  • Extent
  • Duration
• Acronym P.R.R.I.C.ED


  • Purity
  • Remoteness
  • Richness
  • Intensity
  • Certainty
  • Extent
  • Duration
• Acronym Calleg, RED


  • Duration
  • Criteria
• Applying Hedonic Calculus to Euthanasia

  Weigh up the pleasure and pain caused by two courses of action, considering factors like Intensity, Duration, Extent, Richness, Purity, Certainty, and Remoteness
• In most cases, Bentham's theory would support euthanasia
• CRITICISMS OF BENTHAM AND ACT UTILITARIANISM
• Act utilitarianism can have unwelcome consequences for individual autonomy
• Act utilitarianism is speculative as it is challenging to measure or predict the amount of pleasure or happiness an action will create
• The hedonic calculus is criticised for measuring only the quantity of pleasure, not the quality
• Tyler: '"to justify the torture of a single prisoner by a group of sadistic prison guards, since the greater number outweighed the pain felt by one prisoner"'
• Bowie: '"justify any act if the result generates the most happiness"'
• Sur Oliphant: '"difficulty in defining pleasure"'
• Time-consuming process of making moral choices
• John Stuart Mill: '"It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates (Greek philosopher) dissatisfied than a fool satisfied"'
• John Stuart Mill's approach

  • Qualitative approach rather than quantitative, focusing on quality of pleasure over quantity, belief in higher and lower pleasures
• John Stuart Mill's belief


  • The 'higher' a being, the more satisfying their life
• John Stuart Mill's addition to Bentham's theory


  • The harm principle to protect individuals from suffering at the hands of the majority