Utilitarianism

Question 1

who devised act util ?

Answer 1

jeremy bentham

Question 2

who devised rule util ?

Answer 2

john stuart mill

Question 3

what is a hedonist ?

Answer 3

someones who is pleasure seeking and avoids pain

Question 4

what is a sadist ?

Answer 4

someone who gets pleasure from inflicting pain

Question 5

what is utilitarianism according to Bentham ?

Answer 5

the greatest good(pleasure) for the greatest number of people

Question 6

what did Bentham name his utilitarianism idea?

Answer 6

principle of utility

Question 7

what is the hedonic calculus ?

Answer 7

a way of measuring the effect of a an action

Question 8

disadvantages of hedonic calculus

Answer 8

• Hedonic calculus can be manipulated to achieve what people want not what’s good
• Hedonic calculus takes too long
• Humans kant ignore their feelings

Question 9

advantages of act util

Answer 9

It is secular, it doesn’t require beliefs in God to be used
Aims to achieve the greatest happiness
People will naturally and instinctively use utilitarianism in everyday life
Its democratic since it allows decisions to be made by what most think is right, like a vote
it is altruistic

Question 10

disadvantages of act util

Answer 10

Tyranny of the majority - It can be used to make immoral decisions since the majority’s pleasure may harm a minority. For example, a gang gaining pleasure from bullying one person.
Hedonic calculus can be manipulated to achieve what people want not what’s good
Hedonic calculus takes too long
Bentham says we should ignore our family and other relationships when using the hedonic calculus but Humans can’t ignore their feelings its in our nature
Confuses what is popular for what is right
contentment varies person to person
since its teleological it suggests the ends justify the means e.g. I kill one person to donate their organs to 5 people

can justify sadism

Question 11

give the questions from hedonic calculus

Answer 11

Is pain likely to be mixed with the pleasure ?
How continuous is the pleasure?
will the pleasure lead to other pleasures?
how intense is the pleasure?
how is certain is it that pleasure will occur?
how many people will be affected by the pleasure?
how long will the pleasure last?

Question 12

what did mill say about pleasures ?

Answer 12

there are higher pleasure of the mind and lower pleasures of the body

Question 13

example of higher pleasures

Answer 13

philosophy , poetry, classical music , knowledge

Question 14

example of lower pleasures

Answer 14

sex , alcohol , sleeping and eating

Question 15

what is the harm principle ?

Answer 15

Mill said that if a pleasure causes ant harm it shouldn’t be done. This attempted to make Bentham’s hedonic calculus more ethical and prevent people using it in an immoral way

Question 16

what did mill say about benthams util ?

Answer 16

people can manipulate it to achieve what they want not whats best

Question 17

what is the difference between rule and act util ?

Answer 17

rule is made by one person for a lot of people - Society should make general rules using utilitarian reasoning because it is more practical e.g., tell the truth as it does the greatest good
act - Looks at each situation based on its individuality, if an action produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number, then moral rule doesn’t matter.

Question 18

disadvantages of rule ?

Answer 18

Mill doesn’t specify who should make the rules using utilitarianism in the first place or how we should decide who makes rules.
Even though it includes the harm principle, evil is relative and one person’s perception of wrong may be different to a second persons.
It’s difficult, if not impossible to predict all harmful outcomes of a decision. So, is the harm principle useful?
Happiness is subjective and it’s almost impossible to give different pleasures values

Question 19

advantages of rule ?

Answer 19

Considers the minority
If there are general rules for people to follow (e.g., tell the truth because it does the greatest good) it prevents chaos and allows society to progress
It is secular, it doesn’t require beliefs in God to be used
Aims to achieve the greatest happiness
People will naturally and instinctively use utilitarianism in everyday life

Question 20

how did johns util differ from Bentham?

Answer 20

John believed that we should do the greatest good but for the greatest number, but we should have rules in place to ensure that it happens. He also believed there are higher and lower pleasures. The lower pleasures should not be the main motivation for morality.

Question 21

what is preference util?

Answer 21

we shouldn’t be aiming to maximise pleasure/happiness but fulfilling the preferences if everyone as best we can.

Question 22

who postulated preference util?

Answer 22

Peter Singer

Question 23

is util teleological or deontological?

Answer 23

teleological

Question 24

why is util teleological?

Answer 24

because it focuses on the end result of an action to decide whether it is right or wrong.

Question 25

what is a consequentialist theory?

Answer 25

basis the morality of an action on its consequences