Utilitarianism

    Cards (36)

    • Who was Jeremy Bentham
      Social reformer and originator of modern utilitarianism 1748 - 1832
    • What did Bentham Believe was the sovereign good
      Happiness
    • Bentham states “ Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure
    • Describe Act utilitarianism by Bentham
      Takes a teleological approach and believes morality should be based on the outcome of an action and not the action itself. It is not legalistic, instead has one guiding principle. Principle of Utility
    • What phrase is principle of utility based on
      Joseph Priestley 1733-1804 “ the greatest happiness of the greatest number”
    • Principle of Utility states
      An action is right if it promotes and maximises happiness
    • Bentham Act utilitarianism
      good/right= actions who's outcome creates more pleasure than pain
      Bad/wrong= actions who’s outcome more pain than pleasure.
    • Bentham states that we should create the greatest happiness even at our own death
    • What Is negative act utilitarianism
      If all possible actions would bring about more pain than pleasure then we should bring out the action that brings about the least amount of pain
    • Why was Bentham more interested in the quantity of happiness
      He believed all pleasure is the same and did not care what type of pleasure was created as long as moral agents were creating pleasure.
    • What quote could you give that shows Bentham only cares about the quantity of pleasure
      “The game of push and pin is of equal value with the arts and sciences of music and poetry“.
    • Bentham believed that the principle of utility could be calculated using what?
      The Hedonic Calculus
    • Bentham believed that happiness consequences could be measured by considering seven factors
      Its Intensity
      Its Duration
      Its certainty
      It’s propinquity - ( how long it will take to happen)
      It’s Fecundity - ( chances of it being repeated or diff pleasures happening )
      Its Extent - ( the more people who experience it the better)
    • Additional information about the Hedonic calculus
      All the 7 criteria have equal value to each other
      it is the greatest distance between pleasure and pain that is important.
    • Act Utilitarianism is a relativist teleological consequential theory
    • Who was John Stuart mill
      Worked under Jeremy Bentham who believed that his act utilitarianism had two major flaws
    • What were the two major flaws that Mill saw in Benthams Act utilitarianism
      Act Utilitarianism could justify bad actions - Bentham only concerned with quality of pleasure which gave way for sadistic pleasure like gang rape
      Act utilitarianism is too complex - applying the hedonic calculus is time consuming and complex.
    • What were Mills 2 updates to Bentham's Act utilitarianism
      Higher and lower pleasures
      Harm principle
    • What are higher and lower pleasures
      higher = pleasures of the mind : music , art
      lower = pleasures of the body : sex , drugs , alcohol
      Mills argued Higher pleasures are superior to lower pleasures. Higher pleasures would outscore lower pleasures.
      “ it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied“ - Mills
    • What is the Harm principle
      Mill believed that that an individual‘s freedom to create happiness should have one exception : they should not indulge in their own pleasure if it brings others pain.
    • John Stuart mill states : “ the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others”
    • What is Mills new version of Utilitarianism
      Rule Utilitarianism
    • What is rule utilitarianism
      Mill believed that there were universal Deontological rules that society could follow which would bring the maximum outcome of happiness.
    • How would rule Utilitarianism judge good/bad
      Right/good = following a Deontological rule that creates the outcome (telos) of maximising the balance of pain over pleasure
      Wrong/bad = breaking a Deontological rule that creates the outcome (telos) of maximising the balance of pleasure over pain
    • State the differences between Act Utilitarianism and Rule utilitarianism
      Act utilitarianism: Follows the teleological principle of utility in each individual moral dilemma - with reference to the hedonic calculus
      Rule utilitarianism: follows a set of Deontological rules that are known to create the greatest balance between pleasure and pain
    • Explain the difference between act and rule utilitarianism using the case of abortion
      Act utilitarianism: every case of abortion would be considered separately on the 7 criteria of the hedonic calculus.
      Rule utilitarianism: would ask “ would accepting abortion generally bring the greater balance of pleasure over pain?” If from our general experience the answer was yes then accepting abortion would be the Deontological rule. This would then be applied to all abortion cases.
    • What is strong and weak rule utilitarianism
      Strong rule utilitarianism = following the rules ( that was known to produce the greatest balance of pleasure over pain ) all the time with no exceptions.
      weak rule utilitarianism = following the Deontological rules that are known to create the biggest gap between pain and pleasure most of the time. However this rule can be broken in exceptional circumstances. In these circumstances the moral agent can switchback to using Act utilitarianism
    • Applying animal experimentation for medical research on Act utilitarianism
      Would judge each case uniquely
      Then employ the principle of utility - (wether the case would create the biggest gap between pleasure and pain
      then apply the Hedonic Calculus , if it suggests that the case would generate the greatest gap between pleasure and pain, then the animal experimentation would be morally justified
    • Apply animal experimentation for medical research on Rule Utilitarianism
      Would consider the Deontological rules that society could follow on aefmr that would bring the greatest pleasure over pain.
      However if there was an exceptional case, then weak rule utilitarianism would say that you are allowed to ignore the rule and switch back to act utilitarianism.
    • The same scenarios applies to nuclear weapons.
      Example for Act utilitarianism. Harry s. Truman using nuclear weapons on Japan 1945.
    • Give strengths of Utilitarianism
      Supports human nature
      Secular society
    • Give weakness of Utilitarianism
      Happiness is not Important to humanity
      Happiness is a dangerous emotion
    • Strengths of Act utilitarianism
      Post modern society
      Compassionate ethic
      cultures are different
    • Weaknesses of act utilitarianism
      Lacks rules
      Requires prediction of consequences
      some actions are just wrong
    • Strengths of rule utilitarianism
      Rule utilitarianism is clearer
      Does not require predictions
      Weak rule utilitarianism
    • Weaknesses of rule utilitarianism
      Not good for a postmodern society
      not a compassionate ethic
      Defeats the original purpose of Utilitarianism
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