ETIC- UTILARIANISM Flashcards
ETHICAL THEORIES
UTILITARIANISM
NATURAL LAW
DEONTOLOGY
VIRTUE ETHICS
is an ethical theory that argues for the goodness of pleasure and the determination of right behavior based on the usefulness or consequences. of an action.
Utilitarianism
I’m a Utilitarian, so I don’t see the rule against lying as absolute; it’s always subject to some overriding utility which may prevent its exercise.
Peter Singer
The 2 Foremost Utilitarian Thinkers
- Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
- John Stuart Mill (1806- 1873)
Jeremy Bentham
(1748-1832)
John Stuart Mill
(1806- 1873)
Noted British philosopher & social reformer ________ was born on _________
Jeremy Bentham
Feb 15, 1748
Jermy Bentham is most famous on proposing
the doctrine of Utilitarianism
the doctrine of Jermy Bentham is based on the idea that
pleasyre & pain are the motivation for all human action
Jermy Bentham clarified it as the guiding principle of conduct in his first major work
Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789)
he spent a large part of his life advocation legal reforms
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham also influenced political reform in England through
**Reform Bill of 1832 ** & the introduction of the secret ballot
Hedonistic - Utilitarianism
The principle of utility is about our subjection to these sovereign masters: pleasure and pain.
Jeremy Bentham
happiness with pleasure
pleasure can be ‘scientifically’ calculated according to the following 7 criteria of the
Bentham’s Felicific Calculus
Bentham’s Felicific Calculus
How long will it last?
Duration
Bentham’s Felicific Calculus
How intense is it?
Intensity
Bentham’s Felicific Calculus
How near or remote?
Propinquity
Bentham’s Felicific Calculus
How widely it covers?
Extent
Bentham’s Felicific Calculus
How probable is it?
Certainty
Bentham’s Felicific Calculus
How free from pain is it?
Purity
Bentham’s Felicific Calculus
Lead to further pleasure?
Fecundity
Bentham’s Felicific Calculus
DURATION
INTENSITY
PROPINQUITY
EXTENT
CERTAINTY
PURITY
FECUNDITY
Bentham’s godson
John Stuart Mill
(1806-1873)
Believed that happincess, not pleasure, should be the standard of utility
John Stuart Mill
(1806-1873)
Pleasure is not the same as happiness
John Stuart Mill
(1806-1873)
there are two main differences between pleasure and happiness
Pleasure
I
I
I
Gratification
there are two main differences between pleasure and happiness
Happiness
I
I
I
Satisfaction
there are two main differences between pleasure and happiness
Pursued as an end in its own right
Pleasure
there are two main differences between pleasure and happiness
an indirect by-product of another activity
Happiness
Qualitative Utilitarianism
John Stuart Mill
1806-1873
____rejected bentham’s use of the ______
John Stuart Mill
1806-1873
Hendonic Calculus
In his view some pleasures are of a higher quality than others
John Stuart Mill
1806-1873
intellectual
higher pleasure
but pleasure of the body are lower pleasures
appetite
argues that we must consider the quality of the happiness, not merely the quantity
for example, some might find happiness with a pitcher of beer and a pizza. others may find happiness watching a fine shakespearean play. the quality of happiness is greater with the latter.
John Stuart Mill’s Adjustments to Utilitarianism
For ________, utilitarianism cannot promote the kind of pleasures appropriate to pigs or to any other animals.
John Stuart Mill
For ________, crude bestial pleasures, which are appropriate for animals, are degrading to us because we are by nature not easily satisfied by pleasures only for pigs.
John Stuart Mill
are qualitatively different from animal pleasures.
Human pleasures
Contrary to ________ ,________ argues that **quality is more preferable than quantity. **
Bentham, Mill
An excessive quantity of what is otherwise pleasurable might result in pain.
Mill
He asks whether a human person would prefer to accept the highly pleasurable life of an animal while at the same time being denied of everything that makes him a person.
Mill
It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied;
better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.
true
Therefore, it is necessary for us to consider everyone’s happiness, including our own, as the standard by which to evaluate what is moral.
true
is interested with everyone’s happiness, in fact,
the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
Utilitarianism
If we are the only ones satisfied by our actions, it does not constitute a moral good.
true
is not dismissive of sacrifices that procure more happiness for others.
Utilitarianism
in the golden rule of jesus of nazareth, we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility. to do as one would be done by, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, constitute the ideal perfectiion of utilitarian morality.
John Stuart Mill
exemplifies the concept of the greatest good for the greatest number.
Black Widow
If actions are based only on the greatest happiness of the greatest number,
Is it justifiable to let go of some rights for the sake of the benefit of the majority?
When legal rights are not morally justified
in accordance to the greatest happiness principle,
then these rights need neither be observed, nor be respected.
when a law is unjust, it is only right to disobey.
ghandi
seems to be suggesting that it is morally permissible to not follow, even violate, an unjust law.
Mill
The implication is that those protest over political policies of a morally objectionable government act in a morally obligatory way.
“one who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
(letter from a birmingham jail)
thinks that it is commendable to endure legal punishments for acts of civil disobedience for the sake of promoting a higher moral good.
Mill
some moral rights can be overridden
for the sake of the greater general happiness.
Mill
is a particular form of Electronic Surveillance that monitors telephonic and telegraphic communication.
Wiretapping
exposed a mass surveillance program in the United States
Edward Snowden
We say ________because this merely constitutes a thought experiment and need not be actualized.
“theoretically”
moral rights and considerations of justice are not absolute, but are only justified by their consequences to promote the greatest good of the greatest number.
Mill
