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Religious Studies: Ethics > 1A: Bentham’s Act Utilitarianism > Flashcards

1A: Bentham’s Act Utilitarianism Flashcards

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1
Q

What is utilitarianism influenced by?

A

Hedonism

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2
Q

Who are the key thinkers of utilitarianism?

A

Jeremy Bentham and JS Mill

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3
Q

What is the telos of utilitarianism?

A

maximising happiness

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4
Q

What are the key principles of utilitarianism?

A
  • maximising happiness
  • harm principle
  • the utility principle
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5
Q

What is utilitarianism?

A
  • relativist, consequentialist, teleological
  • achieves to maximise pleasure and minimise pain to achieve the greatest overall happiness
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6
Q

What did Bentham believe people were motivated by?

A

pain and pleasure

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7
Q

What is hedonism?

A

the idea is that the only intrinsically good thing is pleasure

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8
Q

What is the problem with a hedonistic mindset?

A
  • pain cannot be avoided
  • sometimes pain can be beneficial and held build character
  • what one person might think is pleasurable might not be to someone else
  • pain and pleasure is subjective
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9
Q

What does consequentialist mean?

A

pays attention to outcome

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10
Q

What does relativist mean?

A

no action is right or wrong in itself

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11
Q

Is utilitarianism a religious ethical system?

A

No

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12
Q

Who was Jeremy Bentham?

A

A lawyer and social reformer

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13
Q

What did Bentham do as a part of his social reforming?

A

formulated a system that would benefit the needs of most people

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14
Q

What is the name of Benthams book?

A

The Principles of Morals and Legislation

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15
Q

Epicurus: “when __________ is present, we have everything, when it is absent, we do everything to ________ it”

A

happiness, possess

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16
Q

Bentham: “nature has placed mankind under the governance of two ___________ __________, pain and pleasure”

A

sovereign masters

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17
Q

What was Bentham’s guiding principle?

A

“the greatest happiness for the greatest number”

18
Q

Why is the theory called utilitarianism?

A
  • derives from the word ‘utility’ meaning ‘useful’
  • an ethical theory which says that the right thing to do in a moral dilemma is the most ‘useful’ thing
  • the thing that is the most useful is the one which has the most likelihood of achieving the telos which we aim for
  • Bentham said that the goal for which to aim is happiness
  • Bentham was influenced by hedonism (seeing pleasure as the only intrinsic good, pain the only intrinsic evil)
  • this was of thinking means happiness is to be achieved by maximising pleasure and minimising pain
19
Q

What is the utility principle?

A
  • right actions are those which are most useful in maximising happiness
  • the rightness/wrongness of an action is determined by its utility - the amount of pleasure or pain caused by an action
20
Q

What did the utility principle say that good moral actions are determined by?

A

whether or not they maximise pleasure/happiness and minimise pain

21
Q

What is the hedonic calculus?

A

a system made by Bentham to measure pleasure and pain

22
Q

What are the seven elements of the hedonic calculus?

A

intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, extent

23
Q

Intensity

A

how strong is the happiness
- the stronger the better

24
Q

Duration

A

how long does the happiness last for (referred to as long)
- the longer the better

25
Q

Certainty

A

how sure can we be that the act will produce happiness
- the more certain the better

26
Q

Propinquity

A

how close does the happiness follow after
- the nearer the better

27
Q

Fecundity

A

how likely is this happiness going to lead to further happiness (will the happiness reproduce) (referred to as speedy)
- the more chance the pleasure will be repeated, the better

28
Q

Purity

A

how free from pain is the act
- the least amount of pain involved, the better

29
Q

Extent

A

how many people will receive the happiness
- the more people who receive it the better

30
Q

What is act utilitarianism?

A

an act is right if and only if it results in as much good as any other alternative

31
Q

What is a problem with consequentialism?

A

we don’t know for sure what consequences will result from our actions

32
Q

What quote summarises Bentham’s quantitative position? What does the quote mean?

A

“push pin is as good as poetry”
- means that it doesn’t matter what gives you pleasure, as long as it gives you deep pleasure
- THERE IS NO HIERARCHY OF PLEASURE

33
Q

What makes act utilitarianism consequentialist?

A
  • it determines whether ethical decisions and judgements are right or wrong based on the consequences of an action, how much pleasure it will produce
  • favours individual situations more than cases for the majority
34
Q

What makes act utilitarianism relativist?

A
  • it looks as each situation independently because each situation is different
  • no universal moral absolute norms or rules
35
Q

Where does the hedonic calculus derive its name from?

A

Greek term for pleasure - “hedone”

36
Q

According to Bentham, how is pain and pleasure supreme in power?

A

they determine how we act mentally, physically, emotionally, psychologically etc

37
Q

Why is Bentham’s version called act utilitarianism?

A

“act” refers to individual actions that people choose to do when faced with a moral dilemma

38
Q

What are some problems with Bentham’s system?

A
  • it is consequentialist meaning we don’t know from sure what consequences will result from our actions
  • there is something instinctively wrong with judging the morality of an action solely based on its outcome: some people are motivated by greed. what about sadists? they gain pleasure from torturing people
  • the theory seems to support the exploitation and abuse of minority groups
39
Q

What does egalitarianism mean and how can it be referred to in the context of Bentham’s act utilitarianism?

A
  • nobody’s pleasure is more important than anyone else’s
  • benthams measure of extent: “everyone is to count for one person” all pleasures should be a seen as one of equal value. all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities
40
Q

What does impartiality mean and how can it be referred to in the context of Bentham’s act utilitarianism?

A
  • equal treatment
  • not being biased or prejudice
  • nobody is more important than anyone else
  • everyone should be treated without favouritism when it comes to happiness
  • example: just because someone is your best friend doesn’t mean you should favour them over everyone else when calculating how to act

Religious Studies: Ethics (20 decks)

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