utilitarianism Flashcards
what is utility?
seeking the greatest balance of good over evil, or pleasure over pain
what type of theory is U?
teleological and consequentialist?
what is act utilitarianism?
calculating the consequences of each situation on its own merits
who is the founder of act utilitarianism?
BENTHAM
HOW DID BENTHAM DEFINE SOCIETY?
“COLLECTION OF NDIVIDUALS”
quote for each individuals right to happiness?
“everyone to count for one, and no one to count for more than one”
for Bentham when is an action right? 1
greatest good for greatest number
what is the principle of utility?
‘usefulness’ the rightness or wrongness of a situation is determined by its utility
what is the greatest happiness principle?
greatest happiness for the greatest number’
Bentham’s theory is one of the universal ethical what?
hedonisms- if an action brings about pleasure then it is right
for Bentham what is our moral duty?
creating as many pleasures and avoiding as many pains as possible
is the theory quantitative or qualitative?
quantitative
what is the hedonic calculus?
calculating the benefit or harm of an act through its consequences
why did Bentham devise the hedonic calculus?
he wanted to be able to prove empirically the rightness of wrongness of actions
happiness can be measured in terms of (PREDICT)
- PURITY- how free from pain
- REMOTENESS- how closely can it be felt
- EXTENT- how widespread results will be
- DURATION- how long lasting
- INTENSITY- how weak or strong of a pleasure
- CERTAINTY-how likely for any future action
- TO BE FOLLOWED- will it lead to other pleasures?
what is the rule of thumb?
if a decison greatly resembles a previous decision, you can use it as a rule of thumb to avoid doing the hedonic calculus again
what did he say about precedence?
if an act has good consequences but will set a precedent leading to bad things in the future, do not do that
what is rule utilitarianism?
following accepted laws that lead to the greatest overall balance of good over evil, or pleasure over pain
whos theory is rule U?
MILL
what did mill say on act UT?
he accepted the theory however believed it had flaws that needed to be resolved. a persons pain could be completely ignored if if there was a great pleasure for the majority
what are higher and lower pleasures?
higher (pleasures of the mind)
lower (pleasure’s of the body)
quote linking satisfaction?
better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied”
what happens when you focus on the qualities of pleasures?
deals with the injustices that could occur if you focus only on quanitity
instead of focusing on pains/pleaures what should we think about?
long term affects on society
