Utilitarianism

• Kantian ethics


  Moral rules should never be violated, regardless of consequences
• Utilitarianism


  Moral theory that focuses on the consequences of actions, aiming to maximize overall happiness/pleasure and minimize pain/suffering
• Utilitarianism was founded by Bentham and Mill, with philosophical roots in ancient Greek thinkers like Epicurus
• Principle of utility


  We should act to produce the greatest good for the greatest number
• Utilitarianism is not egoistic, it is other-regarding - it says we should pursue happiness/pleasure not just for ourselves, but for as many sentient beings as possible
• Utilitarians suggest making moral decisions from the position of a benevolent, disinterested spectator to avoid bias
• Thought experiment: Jim is asked to shoot one prisoner to save 19 others


  • Shooting the one prisoner would maximize utility, but it feels morally wrong
• Act Utilitarianism


  In any given situation, choose the action that produces the greatest good for the greatest number
• Rule Utilitarianism


  Live by rules that, in general, are likely to lead to the greatest good for the greatest number, even if they don't maximize utility in every specific situation
• Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.'


  Jeremy Bentham (1789)
• "By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question ..."


  Jeremy Bentham (1789)
• The Hedonic Calculus considers seven factors including:

  
  

  *'Its propinquity' or remoteness (number 4)

  
  

  *'Its intensity' (number one)

  
  

  *'Its fecundity' or the chance of it being followed by sensations of the same kind (number five)


  Jeremy Bentham (1789)
• 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 (1863)
• That men are happy with their lot never entails that their lot is what it ought to be. For the questioncan always be raised of how great the price is that is being paid for the happiness.'

  Alasdair MacIntyre 'A short History of Ethics
• [Talking about the Hedonic Calculus] 'The balance off it be on the side of pleasure, will give the good tendency of the act upon the whole, with respect to the interests of that individual person'


  Jeremy Bentham
• Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain. '

  John Stuart Mill 'Utilitarianism
• What is summum bonum?

  The highest good or ultimate goal.
• Criticisms of Utilitarianism 


  Justify the means

  applications of principles is too complex
• hedonic calculus

  Purity

  propinquity(remoteness)

  extent

  duration

  intensity

  certainty

  fecundity
• Classical utilitarianism


  The ultimate good is pleasure or happiness
• Hedonism


  Pleasure is the sole good and pain the sole evil
• Act utilitarianism


  The rightness of an action depends entirely on the amount of pleasure it tends to produce
• Jeremy Bentham: 'Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one hand, the standard of right and wrong, on the other, the chain of causes and effects, are fastened to their throne.'
• Principle of utility


  An action ought to be performed only if it brings about the maximum possible happiness for those parties affected by the action: 'the greatest happiness for the greatest number'
• Act utilitarianism


  The view that the rightness of an action is based on the act itself and its consequences in a specific situation
• Act utilitarianism involves tallying the consequences of each action we perform, and determining on a case-by-case basis whether an action is morally right or wrong
• Act utilitarianism may involve choosing less happiness for the individual but greater net happiness for the community as a whole
• An action is conformable to the principle of utility when the tendency it has to augment the happiness of the community is greater than any it has to diminish it
• Utilitarian considerations


  Considerations based on maximizing overall happiness/well-being
• Strengths of act utilitarianism

  • Utilitarianism is intuitive
  • Utilitarianism can give clear answers to some moral problems
  • It is hard to ignore consequences
  • Rather than giving a blanket rule, utilitarianism puts us in a position to take circumstances into account
  • It is a secular philosophy
  • It allows for the fact that different societies and cultures may have different moral codes
• Weaknesses of act utilitarianism

  • Bentham's hedonic calculus does not consider the quality of pleasures and pains
  • It is hard to use in practice to decide on the remoteness, intensity, purity etc. of an action and how it will affect others
  • It is unclear if there is any single experience called 'pleasure' that we can measure
• Mill's utilitarianism


  Adapted Bentham's utilitarianism by assessing pleasure in a qualitative way which contrasts higher and lower pleasures, and adding a framework of moral rules
• Higher and lower pleasures

  Mill rejected Bentham's quantitative assessment of pleasure and replaced it with a qualitative measure, arguing that some pleasures of the mind are higher and more estimable than bodily pleasures
• Rule utilitarianism


  Offers a framework of moral rules which will have favourable consequences for everyone
• Strengths of rule utilitarianism

  • Avoids the need to use the hedonic calculus and make complex calculations
  • Respects people's liberties and rights
  • Avoids justifying immoral actions that act utilitarianism may justify
• Weaknesses of rule utilitarianism

  • Higher and lower pleasures are hard to define and separate
  • Who is a 'competent judge' to determine higher and lower pleasures is arguably elitist
  • Possible contradiction between the consequentialist element and focus on following rules
• The experience machine is a thought experiment related to utilitarianism
• Purity


  The degree to which an experience is free from unpleasant elements or consequences.
• Propinquity (remoteness)


  The physical or psychological closeness or distance of an experience.
• Extent


  The scope or range of an experience.