Utilitarianism

• What are the two main types of utilitarianism?

  Act utilitarianism

  Rule utilitarianism
• What is utilitarianism?

  The action we should take is the one that produces the greatest good or pleasure for the highest number of people
• What is act utilitarianism?


  Taking every situation as a case by case basis - it produces a balance between good and evil in each case
• Who came up with act utilitarianism?

  Jeremy Bentham
• What is Bentham’s hedonic calculus?


  We must calculate which course to take by considering different factors and adding up the best way to go
• What are the strengths of the act utilitarianism?

  • Flexible
  • Gains fair results
• What are the weaknesses of act utilitarianism?

  • Focuses on pleasure too much, there is more to life than food, sex and parties
  • May end up justifying horrid acts like gang rape
  • Applying the hedonic calculus is complex in every situation, it is very time consuming
• What is rule utilitarianism?

  Balancing good over evil with the common good of society in the center. It aims to establish a set of rules that our experience has shown us tend to lead to the common good
• Who came up with rule utilitarianism?


  John Stuart Mill
• What are lower pleasures?


  Food, sex, sleep
• What are higher pleasures?


  Intellectual, social
• What are the strengths of rule utilitarianism?

  • Quicker to apply rather than act utilitarianism
  • Removes personal bias
  • Rules can be changed if needs be
• What are some weaknesses of rule utilitarianism?

  • Rules may clash, eg we have a rule to tell the truth, but if we are asked by a murderer where his next victim is we cannot satisfy both rules
  • Inflexible
• What are some strengths of utilitarianism?

  • Impartial
  • Secular - doesn’t resort to religion
  • Progressive - enables out of date ideas to be challenged
• What are some weaknesses of utilitarianism?

  • Unclear on how we can measure pleasure and pain
  • Problem for minority groups, eg if majority of society is homophobic, it may emphasise a belief that homosexuality is bad
  • Subjective - pleasure and pain are dependant on the individual
  • Swine ethic problem - may allow horrors such as gang rape
• Who came up with preference utilitarianism?

  Peter Singer
• What is preference utilitarianism?


  People should be allowed to pursue their wishes as long as it doesn’t interfere with other people’s happiness

  Minimises suffering rather than increasing pleasure