Utilitarianism

• Utilitarianism


  Normative theory, a teleological consequentialist theory that evaluates the morality of an action based on its consequences, aiming to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people
• Utilitarianism


  • Naturalistic ethical theory, comes from the end that achieves the result, evaluates goodness and badness based on consequences
• Jeremy Bentham


  Roots of utilitarianism, proposed the principle of utility's usefulness in achieving happiness for the greatest number
• Jeremy Bentham: '"It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong"'
• Relativism


  Goodness is relative to the results, teleological decisions are made relative to the end, may be based on personal views or cultural traditions
• Cultural relativism


  Different cultures will have different views on what is good
• Hedonistic calculus


  Bentham's method for measuring and comparing pleasures and pains to determine the morally right action
• Hedonistic calculus


  • Considers intensity, duration, certainty/uncertainty, propinquity, fecundity, and purity of pleasure/pain, and the extent to which it affects people
• John Stuart Mill's utilitarianism


  Focuses on following rules that generally lead to the greatest good for the greatest number, recognizes higher and lower pleasures
• It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied, better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied (John Stuart Mill)
• Rule utilitarianism


  Focuses on following rules that, in general, are likely to lead to the greatest good for the greatest number, rather than evaluating each action individually
• Rule utilitarianism


  • Avoids the problems of act utilitarianism by using reasonable rules applicable to everyone, encourages thinking about long-term consequences, and addresses the issue of special relationships
• Rule utilitarianism is a common currency of moral thought, applicable to everyone using a reasonable process
• Utilitarianism


  A consequentialist ethical theory where the morality of an action is determined by its consequences, specifically how much it increases overall happiness/pleasure and decreases overall suffering/pain
• Act utilitarianism


  The first form of utilitarianism, invented by Jeremy Bentham, which states that the morality of an action is determined by how much it increases overall happiness/pleasure and decreases overall suffering/pain
• Jeremy Bentham: '"Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure"'
• Principle of utility


  An action is good if it leads to the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people
• Utilitarianism


  • It is a consequentialist ethical theory because it is what an action "leads to", i.e. its consequences, that determines whether it is good
• Bentham's hedonic calculus


  A list of seven criteria which each measure a different aspect of the pleasurable consequences of an action, to determine which action will result in the greater amount of pleasure
• Higher and lower pleasures

  Higher pleasures are gained from mental activity (e.g. poetry, reading, philosophy, music) and are superior to lower pleasures gained from bodily activity (e.g. food, sex, drugs)
• Mill claimed that higher pleasures are of greater quality than lower pleasures, and that "competent judges" (people with experience of both) always prefer higher pleasures
• Mill: '"it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied"'
• Rule utilitarianism


  An action is good if it conforms to a rule which maximises happiness
• Strong rule utilitarianism


  • The view that the rules should be stuck to no matter the situation
• Weak rule utilitarianism


  • The view that the rules can be broken if it maximises happiness to do so
• Mill's rule utilitarianism


  An attempt to improve on Bentham's by using "secondary principles" (general rules and guidelines) that are the product of our civilisation's current best attempt to understand how to produce happiness, while still allowing for direct appeals to the "first principle" of utility when secondary principles conflict
• Criticisms of utilitarianism


  • Problems with calculation - knowing the future consequences, making complex calculations, and objectively measuring subjective mental states like pleasure and pain
• Bentham's response to calculation issues

  An action is right regarding "the tendency which it appears to have" to maximise happiness, based on how similar actions have tended to turn out in the past
• Mill's response to calculation issues

  We only need to know the secondary principles that our civilisation has judged to be those best conducive to happiness, and simply follow those principles as best we can
• Utilitarianism justifies bad actions and is against human rights
• Deontological


  The moral basis of human rights, where human rights are intrinsically good
• Consequentialist ethics


  Something is only good depending on whether it leads to happiness, not because of anything intrinsic
• Utilitarianism could never say 'X is wrong' or 'X is right', only that 'X is right/wrong if it leads to/doesn't lead to the greatest happiness for the greatest number'
• If 10 people gained happiness from torturing one person, a Utilitarian would have to say that was morally right as it led to the greatest happiness for the greatest number
• Tyranny of the majority

  When a majority of people decide, for their benefit, to gang up on a minority
• Bentham's theory is not simply about producing more pleasure than pain, it is about maximising pleasure
• If the best action we can possibly do is not one which enables everyone to be happy, the logic of Bentham's theory would justify the sacrifice of the well-being or even deliberate infliction of pain on some minority for the sake of the pleasure of the majority
• Mill's Rule utilitarianism


  Attempts to solve issues with Bentham's utilitarianism by proposing rules which seem identical to rights in their ethical outcome
• It's questionable whether Mill's harm principle really is what would make people happiest, as individuals are not in the best position to figure out and follow through on what will make them happy
• The issue with secular society is that people have become selfishly focused on their own happiness, which can be argued to be the result of Mill's liberalism and his utopian belief that individuals best know how to make themselves happy