Utilitarianism

• Ethics


  The study of morality - i.e. right and wrong, good and bad
• Ethical theories


  • Provide a framework intended to guide moral behaviour
  • Can be applied to ethical dilemmas
• Utilitarianism


  Consequentialist ethical theories that say the consequences of an action make it right or wrong
• Types of utilitarianism


  • Act utilitarianism
  • Rule utilitarianism
  • Preference utilitarianism
• Act utilitarianism


  We should act so as to maximise pleasure and minimise pain in each specific instance
• Jeremy Bentham: 'The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation'
• Felicific calculus


  A way to calculate utility by considering factors like intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent
• Act utilitarianism is sometimes called quantitative utilitarianism because it's about quantifying happiness
• Problems with act utilitarianism

  • Difficult to calculate
  • Tyranny of the majority
  • Moral status of particular relationships
  • Higher and lower pleasures
  • Other values/preferences beyond happiness
• Rule utilitarianism


  Focuses on the consequences of general rules rather than specific actions
• Preference utilitarianism


  Says we should act to maximise people's preferences rather than just happiness
• Kant provides the categorical imperative as two tests to determine universal moral laws
• Kant says we should not treat people as means to an end (the humanity formula)
• Preference utilitarianism


  Ethical theory that says we should respect the preferences of the dead
• Higher and lower pleasures


  Mill's distinction that higher pleasures are inherently more valuable than lower pleasures
• Preference utilitarianism


  Can explain Mill's distinction between higher and lower pleasures in terms of preferences - we prefer higher pleasures over lower pleasures, so we should seek to maximise those