Utilitarianism

• The question of what is meant by utility and maximising utility

  • Utility means usefulness.
  • It Bentham and Mill's theory it refers to pleasure.
  • Maximising utility is doing the action which creates the greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest number of people.
• Jeremy Bentham's quantitative hedonistic utilitarianism

  • An action is good if it maximises general happiness and minimises pain.
  • Makes no distinction between different types of pleasure.
• Bentham's utility calculus (aspects of pleasure taken into account)

  1. Intensity
  2. Duration
  3. Certainty
  4. Remoteness
  5. Fecundity (will it create further pleasures?)
  6. Purity
  7. Extent
• John Stuart Mill's qualitative hedonistic utilitarianism

  • An action is good if it maximises general happiness and minimises pain.
  • However some pleasures are inherently better than others and should be prioritised.
• Higher and lower pleasures

  • Higher pleasures are pleasures of the mind such as reading.
  • Lower pleasures are physical pleasures such as sex.
  • Only competent judges who have experienced both types can decide which is better.
  • 'Better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.'
• Mill's proof of the greatest happiness principle (step 1)

  P1: The only evidence that something is visible is that it can be seen. The only evidence that something is audible is that it can be heard etc.

  P2: Similarly, the only evidence that something is desirable is that it is actually desired.

  P3: Everyone desires there own happiness.

  IC: Therefore each person's happiness is desirable.
• Mill's proof of the greatest happiness principle (step 2)


  P4: As each person's happiness is desirable, the general happiness is desirable.

  P5: Each person's happiness is a good to that person.

  IC2: Therefore the general happiness is a good to the aggregate of all people.
• Mill's proof of the greatest happiness principle (step 3)


  1. P6: Happiness is one of the ends of conduct.

  2. P7: Happiness is one of the criteria for morality.

  3. P8: Other elements (e.g. virtue, health and money) can be considered ends of conduct, but these are not universally agreed on.

  4. P9: However these elements start as a means to gaining happiness for the person so, by association with happiness, they become ends in themselves.

  5. P10: Through association, these elements become a part pf that person's happiness.

  6. P11: This is the only way they become ends in themselves.

  7. P12: Because these elements were initially sought as a means of happiness, happiness should be seen as the sole end of our conduct.
• Non-hedonistic utilitarianism


  Maximises something other than pleasure.
• Preference utilitarianism


  A good action is one which maximises the satisfaction of the preferences of all those involved.
• Act utilitarianism


  In any situation, you should do the action which would increase happiness to the greatest extent. (Bentham)
• Rule utilitarianism


  In any situation, you should follow the rule, that if everyone followed, would increase happiness to the greatest extent. (Mill) 
• Nozick's experience machine

  • imagines a hyper-realistic machine where you could be plugged in and would live a pleasurable life, experiencing everything as if it were real.
  • Many people would not go in the machine because they value things such as freedom and personal relationships.
  • Therefore hedonism and thus utilitarianism are false.
• Fairness and individual liberty

  • Act utilitarianism can lead to counter-intuitive moral judgements.
  • E.g. enslaving a minority to aid the majority.
• Tyranny of the majority

  • The potential of the majority using democracy to oppress others.
  • Mill argued that the only reason governments and other individuals should interfere in our lives is to prevent us causing harm to others. (Harm principle).
• Problems with calculation

  • Where do consequences end when calculating the utility of an action?
  • E.g. saving a drowning boy who goes on to become a serial killer created more pain than pleasure in the long term.
  • If the moral worth of an act is tied to its consequences , then this has to be constantly revised and no 'final' value can be assigned.
• Problems with calculation (Which beings to include)


  P1: If only humans have moral status, there must be some special quality that all humans share.

  P2: All human-specific possibilities for such a quality will be a quality that some humans lack e.g. intelligence.

  P3: The only possible candidates will be candidates will be qualities that other animals have too.

  C: Therefore we cannot argue that only humans have moral status.
• Issues around partiality

  • Utilitarianism demands that we remain impartial when making moral decisions, only considering how much happiness is produced.
  • This is impractical as most people are likely to favour their friends and family.
• Utilitarianism ignores the moral integrity of the individual


  P1: Personal integrity requires that there are things (x) that you would not do.

  P2: Using a utilitarian framework, a scenario can always be created whereby x is the right thing to do.

  C: Therefore utilitarianism undermines our personal integrity
• Utilitarianism ignores the intentions of the individual

  • E.g. someone finds the cure for cancer while trying to make a new poison to exterminate their enemies.
  • We intuitively believe that acts done from a good motive have more moral worth.
• Utilitarianism on stealing

  • Act -stealing may be morally justified in some scenarios if it creates more pleasure than pain e.g. Robin Hood.
  • Rule - stealing is always wrong as obeying the law is a moral rule.
  • General rule - stealing is wrong as it tends to cause more pain than pleasure.
• Utilitarianism on simulated killing

  • Act - the happiness produced from these entertainments generally outweighs the pain so they are morally good.
  • Rule - Although it is a lower pleasure, simulated killing is morally acceptable as people should be free to pursue whatever pleasures they choose.
• Utilitarianism on eating animals

  • Act - Bentham included animals in his calculations because they feel pleasure and pain. It is hard to calculate whether the pleasure humans gain from eating animals outweighs the pain caused.
  • Preference - Although Singer values animals as sentient beings, he argues they do not have a conscious preference to stay alive so eating them is acceptable if the animals are treated humanely.
• Utilitarianism on telling lies

  • Act - Lying is sometimes morally good when the pleasure created outweighs the pain.
  • Rule - The rule 'tell the truth' maximises utility so should be followed.
  • Preference - Most people have a preference to be told the truth so lying is generally wrong, unless the person would prefer to be lied to.