Moral Philosophy - Utilitarianism

Question 1

Who are the key philosophers of utilitarianism ?

Answer 1

• Jeremy Bentham

* John Stuart Mill

Question 2

What is the greatest happiness principle ?

Answer 2

• The basis of utilitarianism
• Is made up of Three principles (Consequentialism , Hedonism, Equity )
• believes the morally right action is the action which maximises happiness for the most amount of people.

Question 3

What is the conseqentialist principle ?

Answer 3

• The moral rightness of an action is determined by the consequences that the act produces

Question 4

What is an example of Consequentialism ?

Answer 4

If someone with diabetes collapses and you give them a sweet drink with the intent to help them but it instead kills them . This would be deemed as the morally wrong action in Consequentialism .

Question 5

What did Mill say about Consequentialism ?

Answer 5

” all action is for the sake of some end and rules of action take their whole character from ends to which they are subservient “

Question 6

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Consequentialism ?

Answer 6

STRENGTHS :
• It helps us decide what is right by giving us two options to weigh

WEAKNESSES :
• Difficulty of predicting consequences ( Local vs global , short term vs long term and predicted vs actual consequences )

Question 7

What is the equity principle ?

Answer 7

• emphasises that everyone’s happiness counts equally in our decisions

Question 8

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Equity principle ?

Answer 8

STRENGTHS :
• More alturistc so it prevents utilitarianism from being selfish

WEAKNESSES :
• Tranny of the majority ( Justice and rights , minority interests )

Question 9

What is the hedonism principle ?

Answer 9

• The view that pleasure or happiness is the only thing worth valuing

Question 10

What are strengths and weaknesses of Hedonism ?

Answer 10

STRENGTHS :
• non - discriminatory against pleasures
• clear criteria

WEAKNESSES:
• Evil pleasures ( bad pleasures , harming yourself , harming others )
• Difficulty with measuring diffrent pleasures ( drinking tea or seeing a movie )

Question 11

What would Mill say if u had leukemia and were inmense pain and had the option of euthanasia ?
Using the hedonistc principle .

Answer 11

• mill would say that we should minimise pain and take the option of euthanasia

Question 12

What is an example of the hedonistc principle ?

Answer 12

• people who spend all there time eating , drinking , partying indulging in every pleasure possible .
• Can also include reading a book or appreciating art ( depends on what generates happiness for you )

Question 13

How do we ditingush diffrent types of pleasures ?

Answer 13

• Hedonic calculus ( Bentham )

* Higher and lower pleasures ( Mill )

Question 14

What is the difference between the utilitarian path and egoism path ?

Answer 14

• Following the utilitarian path will not always guarantee your own happiness
• Maximising the total benefit is not the same as Maximising the number of people who benefit

Question 15

What is an example of the equity principle ?

Answer 15

• If you were a millionaire who was a recluse, you might have to pay higher income tax than everyone else for services you don’t use .

Question 16

What are the 7 criteria of Bentham’s Hedonic calculus?

Answer 16

• intensity - How intense will the pleasure be ?
• Duration - how long will the pleasure last ?
• certainty - How likely is the pleasure to happen
• propinquity - How immediate or remote is the pleasure?
• Fecundity - How likely is it to be followed by similar pleasures ?
• Purity - How likely is it to be followed by pain ?
• Extent - How many people will experience the pleasure?

Question 17

What is the hedonic calculus?

Answer 17

• calculates and measures pain and pleasure so we can figure out which action will generate the greatest number of happiness for the greatest number of people
• Uses 7 criteria to deduce the action that will generate the most happiness

Question 18

How is Mills higher and lower pleasures diffrent to Bentham’s Hedonic calculus ?

Answer 18

• Mill says it is not just quantity of pleasure which matters - quality too.

Question 19

What is a posteriori ?

Answer 19

Knowledge which is derived from experience

Question 20

What is a priori ?

Answer 20

Knowledge that can be known without experience or data

Question 21

What are strengths of utilitarianism ?

Answer 21

• Natural - pleasure & pain are real gives them a central role
• Everyone matters - Practical and inclusive of others
• Balanced - Don’t have moral rules which conflict as consequences of action depend on circumstance.
• Simple - Few ideas involved. Only thing that matter is if consequences bring pleasure/ pain rather than motives and people’s rights which r complicated.

Question 22

What are strengths of Bentham’s Hedonic calculus ?

Answer 22

• Any potential pleasure or pain can be rated in the same scale
• doesn’t discriminate between diffrent pleasures ( ‘pushpin is as good as poetry ‘ - bentham )

Question 23

What are weaknesses of Bentham’s Hedonic calculus?

Answer 23

• quantitive distinction between pleasures is insufficient as some pleasures are quantitatively different from one another . ( Quantity > quality )
• some pleasures are so different they are incommensurable ( cannot be rated on a common scale ) like comparing cinema going with apples.
• 7 variables make it an extremely complex principle as there is no unique way to combine 7 scores .

Question 24

What did Mill suggest about how we define pleasure ?

Answer 24

Suggested it should include not only be sensual pleasures but also intellectual pleasures .

Question 25

What are lower pleasures ?

Answer 25

Pleasure we share with animals like eating, drinking and sex

Question 26

What are higher pleasures ?

Answer 26

Pleasures of the mind like literature, music and the arts as only humans can enjoy.

Question 27

What did Mill say that encapsulates his approach to pleasures ?

Answer 27

’ it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be sorcrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.’

Question 28

What are competent judges ?

Answer 28

People who have experienced both higher and lower pleasures who can rank pleasures due to having experience.

Question 29

What is a objections to Mills statement that competent judges usually prefer higher pleasures only going to lower pleasures in weaker moments ?

What does Mill say to this ?

Answer 29

Argument - some people have experienced higher and lower pleasures yet they take out a lower pleasure lifestyle .

Mill says - higher pleasures take effort and sustained engagement but once we sampled them we always prefer higher pleasures.

Question 30

Why do we need competent judges ?

Answer 30

To justify the championing of higher and lower pleasures

Question 31

What are criticisms and counter replies for higher and lower pleasures ?

Answer 31

• Argument - Mill is holding his own pleasures up to his ideals, pleasures of the 19th century middle - class white male ,elitist

Response - Mill would consider himself a competent judge therefore he can justify where pleasures should be placed.

• he says it obvious to want higher pleasures yet refers to our capacity to enjoy them as a ‘ very tender plant ‘ which suggests we have a slender control on motivations in contrast to out lives being dominated by lower pleasures.
• Mills academic education led him to having a breakdown before he was 20 - could this be due to his strict high pleasures demand

Question 32

Explain the critisums of Consequentialism?

Answer 32

Difficulty of predicting consequences :

•Predicted vs Actual consequences - our predicted consequence will not always be the actual consequence. is it fair to judge someone on a bad consequence when their intent is pure
Example - give a homeless woman money intent for her to buy food . The consequence is that u supported her drug habit .

• Short-term vs Long-term Consequences - saving a drowning man= short term is good. He could go an kill someone later = bad long term Consequence. Which is more important how should the action be judged long or short term ? Utilitarianism gives us no guidance on this.
• Local vs Global Consequence - difficult to see what the global/ local Consequence of our actions may be

Global Consequence - you buy cheap clothing but u unknowingly support child labour and unethical companies

Local conseqence -buy cheap clothing from supermarket which leads to local tailor going out of businessq

Question 33

What are the counter replies to criticisms of Consequentialism?

Answer 33

• predicted vs actual consequences - we have to make best use of evidence given to make the best prediction .We should use the predicted consequences of an act to decide if it is moral.
• Short-term vs long-term consequences - we must make predictions on reasonable foreseeable outcomes
• local vs global consequences - we are morally responsible for the action. if the clothing u brought had supported child labor then maybe u should research were it came from ( you are still accountable even if u didn’t know ).

Question 34

Explain the criticisms of Hedonism

Answer 34

Evil pleasures :

• Bad pleasures - smoking, Netflix , gorging on food these bring us pleasure but are harmful in the long run
• Harming others - if someone takes pleasure in harming others can this really be considered a moral outcome ? Example - sadistic prison guard who likes beating prisoners
• Harming yourself - what about masochists who get pleasure from self inflicted pain how can we say this is moral ?

Question 35

What are the counter replies to critisums of Hedonism?

Answer 35

• Bad pleasures - they are misguided you don’t atucly gain happiness overtime. You just end up fat , addicted to smoking or stressed over ur exam because u watched tv
• Harming others -
• Harming yourself - what’s wrong with it it’s your choice what you do . If if ends in suicide or suffering of others they would say it was immoral anyway

Question 36

What r the criticisms of equity ?

Answer 36

Tranny of the majority :

Minority interests - if the same majority keep getting their way the minority is overlooked. ( Discriminates against minorites) Example - Nazi Germany came to power would be justifyed in utilitarianism but was not fair or just in reality.

• Justice and rights - cannot account deeply for notions like justice and rights . Example rights - many people believe bnp should be outlawed due to views being racist, inflammatory and dangerous. Even if the majority held this view these people do have a right to free speech regardless of their views Example justice - suspected suicide bomber . May would say they should be shot on site. But does that serve interests of justice ?

Utilitarianism doesn’t account for this as it would just choose what the majority wants.( Which isn’t always right)

Question 37

What are the counter replies to critisums of equity ?

Answer 37

• Minority interests - misguided as we would not actually get pleasure from discriminating towards minorites. Eventually the majority would be unhappy and guilty.
• Justice and rights - if we shot suspected bombers and silenced free speech this would eventually cause unhappiness as people would be afraid to not be in the majority.