Bentham + Kant Flashcards
Define hedonism.
Pleasure is the primary or most important intrinsic good.
What is the Principle of Utility?
-Greatest happiness principle.
-Actions or behaviours are right is they promote happines/pleasure or wrong if they promote unhappiness or pain.
How can Bentham be considered an empiricist?
-His utilitarianism is grounded in the idea that moral principles should be derived from observed human behaviour and experience.
-His emphasis on measuring and evaluating happiness and suffering in a practical and empirical manner aligns with empiricist principles.
Bentham quote about nature.
What is he suggesting?
“Nature has placed manking under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure”.
Human beings are fundamentally guided by the pursuit of please and avoidance of pain.
What inspired Bentham’s belief that the law should be governed by the Principle of Utility?
What does he believe about laws?
-Law in his day was absurd.
-Around 200 offences on the statute book that were punishble by hanging.
-English system known as the ‘Bloody Code’.
Laws are only secondary principles. A good law is simply one that obeys the primary principle.
What did Bentham believe should have nothing to do with making laws?
Why?
-Too much respect for antiquity.
-Hatred of innovation.
-Antipathy.
-Sympathy.
-Fiction.
-Religion
Based on superstition and ignorance.
What should we consider, according to Bentham, when deciding what is right/wrong?
Use quote
“It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do”.
We should only look to the principles of pain and pleasure.
Bentham main quote.
“The greatest happiness for the greatest number”.
What is Bentham’s utiltiarianism often called?
-Quantative utilitarianism.
-It focuses on quantifying happiness by measuring it.
-Scientified theory as it can be quantified.
What is the Hedonic Calculus?
-Measures how much please/happiness an action will induce.
-Measures based on intensity, duration, certainty etc.
What is moral universalism?
-Applies same moral principles to all people.
-Treats each person’s suffering/happiness equally.
Bentham’s utilitarianism is a form of universalism.
What is consequentialism?
-Focuses on the outcomes of actions rather than their inherent nature.
-Bentham argued that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by the overall utility it produces; thus, is outcome driven.
Bentham’s utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism.
What are criticisms of Bentham’s Act utilitarianism?
-Tyranny of the majority - it may justify sacrificing the happiness of the minority for the greater happiness of the majority, potentially violating individual rights.
-Utilitarian calculus difficult/impossible to apply in practice as we can’t predict certain outcomes.
-Focuses solely on outcomes, possibly violating individual rights/dignity.
-Ignores moral rules and duties.
-Immoral intentions may result in great happiness, but the action is immoral.
How is Bentham’s utilitarianism incompatible with religion?
-God is irrelevant to the theory.
-Happiness in religion is rooted in the Kingdom of Heaven, whereas Bentham’s happiness is rooted on earth in day-to-day life.
-Christian’s seek to put self-interest to one side, whereas Bentham sees it as inevitable.
-Christianity focuses particularly on the weaker of society, whereas Bentham sees all happiness as equal, often resulting in harm to the weaker.
-Christianity has a more deontological, rule-based approach, such as the Ten Commandments.
-Christianity care about intent and the mind, Bentham only cares about the outcome.
Bentham
Give evidence to suggest Chiristianity cares about the mind and intention behind actions.
-Sermon on the Mount
-“Any man who look sat a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart”.
How is Bentham’s utilitarianism compatible with religion?
-Both share a common concern for human well-being/happiness.
-Both encourage ethical altruism (selflessness).
-Jesus sees utilitarian arguments as relevant to the assessment of moral action e.g. Parable of Sheep and Goats he says those who ignore strangers and the needy (etc.) will be punished by God.
-Jesus acts situationally e.g. Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking Sabbath but Jesus said God required them to do what was right in the situation.
-John Stuart Mill
Bentham
What did John Stuart Mill claim?
Quote
-There is a link between utilitarianism and Christianity.
-Jesus made decisions by the ‘Golden Rule’, as do utilitarians.
“To do as you would be done by, and to love your neighbour as yourself, constitute the ideal perfection of utilitarian morality”.
Bentham
How does the Trolley Problem highlight incompatibility?
-Christians would probably argue it is immoral to sacrifice one person’s life and dignity for the happiness of others. It goes against sanctity an dpreservation of life.
-Utilitarianism would probably argue the happiness of 5 is greater than 1.
What does Kant argue?
-Deontological.
-Moral statements are priori syntheric meaning you can know something without experience, and it can be checked by experience.
-Morality is known through the use of reason.
What is Kant’s concept of duty?
-Duty is what we ought to do and we have an obligation to perform certain actions.
-As long as you do your duty, you’re morally blameless.
-There is only one time of morality = morals that follow duty.
What does Kant believe about goodwill and duty?
Quote
-To act of a ‘good will’ means to act out of a sense of moral obligation or duty.
-The moral agent does a particular action not because of what it produces, but because it is by reasoning recognised as the right thing.
-Kant uses the example of a shopkeeper: shopkeeper may be kind but it’s for their selfish desire of profit. The duty to be good should be honest because it’s right/dutiful.
“Goodwill shines forth like a precious jewel” (goodwill is the highest good).
Kant
What does “the moral law within” mean?
-Duty and goodwill make the moral law.
-Everyone can reason how they ought to behave in a situation.
-Humans are free to choose to act towards moral law or not.
Kant
What is Summon Bonum?
-The place where our happiness and virtue comes together.
-Kant argues we all stive for the Summom Bonum, but errors in moral thinking occur when we follow heteronomous approaches (laws by state etc).
Kant
What are the two maxims?
Maxims = laws
categorical and hypothetical
What is the categorical imperative?
-Kant intended to be the basis of all rules (to disobey it is irrational and immoral).
-Statements that are not qualified by an ‘if’ statement, they are universal.
-An act that is good in itself regardless of consequences.
What are the 3 formulations of the categorical imperative?
Formula of the law of nature: universability.
Formula of the end itself: means to an end.
Formula of the kingdom of ends.
What is the hypothetical imperative?
Did Kant agree with it?
-A command to ahcieve a desired result.
-‘If I want to do X, I must do Y’.
No - it’s not an absolute rule as its judgements are not connected with ethics.
How is Kant at odds with consequentialism?
-Believes it is never acceptable to lie no matter the situation.
-He believes we cannot control consequences and therefore they are not our responsibility.
-We are responsible for what WE do, therefore we should never lie.
Give an example to show Kant’s belief about lying.
-In Nazi Germany, he would see it as wrong to lie to save the life of a Jew.
-He argues that we are not responsible for the actions of the Nazis, they are.
-Therefore we shouldn’t be concerned about the consequences and simply tell the truth.
What are strengths of Kantian ethics?
-Simple and effective tool to discover moral laws.
-Universability, very simple.
-Shows how consequentialism justifies bad acts to bring about good consequences, when some acts are never justifiable.
-Removes emotion from decision-making, meaning equal treatment.
-Shows how humans cannot be used as a means to an end.
How do W.D. Ross’ Prima Facie Duties strenghten Kant’s argument?
-Modernises Kant’s theory.
-Show that humans can act upon intuitive truths.
-In cases where categorical imperatives conflict, one duty can take priority.
What are weaknesses of Kantian ethics?
-We can see there are no universally agreed moral rules, so the Categorical Imperative is wishful thinking.
-Kant ignores the fact that not all humans are capable of the intellectual ability to work out universal maxims.
-Does not make it clear what a person should do, with two conflicting duties e.g. duty to lie or duty to save life.
-Believes reason gives humans a drive to follow their duty to achieve Summum Bonum (reward/ the highest good), which only God can provide as he is immortal - redundant to an Atheist.
-Anthropocentric (humans alone have intrinsic values), animals aren’t considered in this theory, he argues they are non-rational and are not members of the moral community. This could justify cruelty towards animals.
Ways Kantian ethics is compatible with religion.
-Kant sees Jesus as a model for behaviour as he resisted temptations and attained moral perfection.
-Both Kantians and Christians view assessing the will and intention as crucial.
-Principle of universability and categorical imperative align with scripture e.g. “do unto others as you would have them do to you” (Luke)
-Kantian ethics establishes a universal law, as Christianity establishes moral absolutes.
Ways Kantian ethics is incompatible with religion.
-Kant’s morality is grounded in reason and rational will, whereas religion is generally rooted in Divine commands.
-Categorical imperatives are absolute commands, whereas some religious ethics such as Situation Ethics and DoDE allow flexibility.
-Christianity introduces the idea of divine grace, forgiveness through faith in Christ, and the possibility of redemption, which many not be cental to Kant’s ethical framework.
Overall, is Kantian ethics compatible with religious decision making?
Kantian ethical theory is consistent with religious decision-making.
Even though some of Kant’s ideas are not overtly religious, the overall tone of his theory is religious and reflects much of Christian decision-making.
