Utilitarianism

• Bentham

  • Happiness was the supreme ethical value, which he called the 'sovereign good'.
  • Happiness is useful because it is good for people to be happy.
  • Developed his ethnic system around the idea of pleasure, he thought pleasure was happiness.
  • His ethical theory, hedonism, pursued physical pleasure and avoided physical pain.
  • The most moral acts are those which maximise pleasure and minimise pain.
  • It is the nature of the human to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
• ‘Nature has placed mankind under the government of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure’ - Bentham
• Principle of utility - quantity of pleasure - Bentham

  • The correct ethnic standard is a principle of utility.
  • Recognises the role of pain and pleasure in human life and then approves or disproves of an action based on the amount of pain or pleasure brought about.
  • The principles tells us to produce the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness, making sure that we give equal consideration to everyone that could be affected by our actions.
  • Tells us to produce the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.
• Hedonic calculus

  • Measures the principle of utility.
  • A method of working out the total sub of pleasure and pain produced by an act, resulting in the total value of consequence.

  1. Fecundity - will it produce others pleasure
  2. Remoteness - is is close to you
  3. Extent
  4. Duration
  5. Purity - is there likely to be any pain/guilt mixed in
  6. Intensity
  7. Certainty - how certain is it that pleasure will be the expense of long term pain

  • - This method makes sure that we don’t seek short term pleasure at the expense of long-term pain.
• Criticisms of the hedonic calculus

  • Unpredictable - you can't know the future; things rarely turn out as we thing they will. It cannot be right to judge an action right or wrong based on outcomes that are down to chance.
  • Incalculable - even if you know exactly what would happen, it is impossible to add up pain and pleasure resulting from a course of action.
  • Immeasurable - it may be possible to measure certainty to duration on our past experiences. But it isn't possible to measure intensity or remoteness.
• Mill view of Bentham

  • Agreed with Bentham in emphasising that a persons well being is of the utmost importance.
  • Agreed with the principle of utility but had an issue with the quantitative element of the hedonic calculus
• Mill - pleasure

  • Used a qualitative approach since he argued that not all forms of pleasure are of equal value, like Bentham did
  • Higher pleasures are intellectual: poetry, art, reading
  • Lower pleasures are sensual and are of less value: food, drink, sex
  • 'It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied'
  • Lower pleasures are more costly as they are addictive. They provide gratification but if we overindulge, they bring pain
  • Quality of pleasures was important to Mill because some people will feel more pleasure from the same thing someone else could feel less pleasure from
• Mill - greatest happiness principle

  • Indirect by-product of another activity.
  • Those who are happy have their focus elsewhere, and not on their own happiness.
  • Seeking personal happiness will not find you happiness.
  • Jesus' teachings of 'love your neighbour' constitutes the idea perfection of utilitarian morality.
  • Pleasure is not the same as happiness, a person may have a lot of pleasurable experiences but see life and pointless and be very unhappy.
• Act utilitarian

  • Assess each individual situation on its own.
  • Calculates utility each time the act is performed.
  • (Bentham)
• Rule utilitarian

  • Focuses on general rules which people should follow.
  • Based on past actions to guide present acts.
  • General rules which everyone should follow to bring about the greatest good for the community and overall benefit society.
  • Establishes the best overall rule.
  • (Mill)
• Rule utilitarian example

  • Society needs to the principle of truthfulness.
  • The rule that one should tell the truth is a means of securing the greatest happiness for the greatest number within society as a whole.
  • To tell a lie might offer immediate advantages to the liar but that some be weighed against the more general threat to society of telling lies becoming the norm.
• Strong rule utilitarianism

  • Rigid and inflexible rules that should never be broken.
  • You should never break a rule that is established on utilitarian principles.
• Weak rule utilitarianism

  • Rules that can be broken if it leads o the greater good in exceptional circumstances.
  • There may be situation where the assessment of rules of a particular act may take precedence over the general rule, although the general rule must be taken into account when addressing what is right
• Strong/weak utilitarianism example

  • if a maniac is chasing someone who hides in the ship you work in, and the manic runs into the shop asking where the person is.
  • A strong rule utilitarian would state that you must be honest, however a weak rule utilitarian would judge that lying may be the right thing to do in this situation.
• Peter Singer

  • Preference utilitarian.
  • Believe that everyone who is involved in the situations preferences should be taken into account.
  • All interest are of equal value.
  • 'Our preference cannot count any more than the preferences of others'
  • The view of the minorities is also taken into consideration.
  • It is best to do what is best for the greatest number rather than basing it on a calculation of pain and pleasure.
  • Wanted to minimise suffering and maximise pleasure
• Augustine

  • Pleasure can be extremely dangerous.
  • We should not base morals decisions on the pursuit of pleasure.
  • All humans are fallen creatures who are controlled by lust due to the fall.
  • Humans will use pleasure to their advantage and become individualistic and selfish.
  • One persons pleasure is another's pain and therefore the decision is no longer moral.
  • Pleasure should not be a factor in moral decision making as humans can get carried away.
• Barth

  • Would argue that the hedonic calculus would be difficult to apply due to the corrupt nature of humanity.
  • It is too difficult to quantify and compare intensity of pleasure with duration of pleasure.
  • Simply listing elements of pleasure does not quantify it.
  • We should follow the divine revelation and Church tradition.
• Pojman

  • The hedonic calculus is incalculable as it is impossible to add up all of the pleasure and pain to resulting in a course of action.
  • There is too much to calculate considering all the variable will ave the scores attached.
  • It is vague, subjective and immeasurable.
  • Pleasure cannot be measured so the idea of adding it up doesn't work.
  • The theory seems to support the exploitation and abuse of minority groups if it please the majority.
  • This is not an ethical way of thinking.
• Aquinas

  • Natural law may be a far better method as it is based on universal laws (primary precepts) and clear laws (secondary precepts) which provide help and guidance when making moral decisions.
  • This is the approach of the Catholic Church as it is based on God given reason.
• Kant

  • Challenges utilitarianism because it is a teleological theory and only focuses on the consequences.
  • Kants second categorical imperative states that the 'end does not always justify the means'.
  • Meaning that you should never use or exploit something to reach an end result.
  • Utilitarianism allows morally wrong acts to take place to being about happiness as an end result.
  • It could condone ant act in the name of happiness of the greatest good which is not always moral.
• Criticisms

  • Requires that we can know the future. If the goodness of an action depends on whether it maximises pleasure, then we need to all know the consequences of the action first
  • Complex under time constraints
  • No way to measure subjective feelings like pain and pleasure - Bentham responds: doctors ask a patient to describe pain on a scale of 1-10. This may not be a perfect indication, but it is accurate to be informative
  • Doesn't take the minority into account
  • Subjective - we all have different definitions of happiness.
  • Some pain can be good for you, some pleasure can be bad.
• Strengths

  • Takes into account the majority.
  • In line with the fact that harming people is intrinsically wrong.
  • Straightforward, easy to understand.
  • Secular, it doesn't rely on specific beliefs about God.
  • Democratic, fairest way to approach moral dilemmas.