Act

Question 0

Motivation

Answer 0

Act utilitarianism is a hedonistic theory, the view that you ought to make decisions dependant on the quality of pain or pleasure, a normative ethic. One component of benthams utilitarianism is based on the motivation of humans. Due to Bethan being a hedonist, he believed the purpose and ultimate aim of human life is to seek for pleasure, with the absence of pain. “ nature has placed mankind under te governance of two sovereign masters; pleasure and pain” Bentham interpreted this as a moral act and maintained that pleasure and pain, embodied good and bad.

Question 1

What is act

Answer 1

Mainly associated with Jeremy Bentham, an 18th century philosopher. He developed the Greek ideas of eudomonia and hedonism ( a thought process that argued that pleasure is the only intrinsic good). It allows people to look at an action and asses if it is good or bad by looking at the consequences. He argues that an action is good if it creates the” greatest good for the greatest number. “

Question 2

Principle of utility

Answer 2

After establishing that pain and pleasure were the determing moral factors, Bentham developed the principle of utility. Furthermore Bentham concluded that the rightness or wrongness of an action may be judged by how useful it is or, as he was a hedonist, how much pleasure or pain was created in relation to the hedonic calculus. “ an action is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number” UTILITARIANSIM is therefore perceived as a teleological theory as the end result, happiness or pleasure, justifies the means. Furthermore the theory is democrative as it relies on a quantitive measurement of pleasure, not just for an individual.

Question 3

Hedonic calculus

Answer 3

As an action may have several different consequences other than just good or bad, pleasure or panic Bentham devised the hedonic calculus in order to measure the usefulness of an action therefore determine whether it is good or bad on a larger scale. The hedonic calculus relies on seven factors to determine how much pleasure or pain has been caused by an action; intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity and extent ( MILL). For example the hedonic calculus would be used when a situation occurs that involves pleasure with pain e.g killing 4 mm to save 8 children would be seen as right, due to act utilitarianism being based on quantity. In conclusion, the act that leads to the most pleasure is considered morally right.

Question 4

Criticism by mill

Answer 4

J.s mill criticises the hedonic calculus as it is not adequate in certain situations. For example, the hedonic calculus would state that the event in Rome where lions would be released on Christians in an arena is a morally right act, as the quantity of the crowds enjoyment outweighs the pain for the Christians, this demonstrates the impractical nature of the hedonic calculus.

Question 5

Key concepts

Answer 5

Normative
Relativist
Teleological
Hedonist
Eudomonia
Principles of moral legislation

Question 6

Name 3 strengths of act

Answer 6

• Subjective
• Teleological
• Encourages people to take moral responsibility

Question 7

Name 3 weaknesses of act

Answer 7

• has the potential to justify anything
• ignores intentions
• what is happiness