Utilitarianism

Question 1

What are the basics of utilitarianism?

Answer 1

-At a simple level, utilitarianism argues that the good and right thing to do is that which leads to the greatest good for the greatest number.
-This means that utilitarianism is a relativist theory: ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ are not fixed concepts at all times and in all places.
-Utilitarianism is also a teleological theory of ethics, as decisions about right and wrong are based on the outcome.
-For Bentham, this greater good is equated to pleasure (hedonism)

Question 2

Who is Jeremy Bentham?

Answer 2

Bentham was the son of a lawyer who wrote about and lived according to utilitarian principles. A social reformer, he argued against slavery, supported votes for women and suggested that homosexuality be decriminalised. Upon his death, he donated his body to scientific research and an auto-icon was made that can be seen at university college London.

Question 3

What were Bentham’s key ideas?

Answer 3

Utilitarianism, which Bentham sees as both a political and an ethical theory.

Question 4

What does relativism mean?

Answer 4

The idea that what is right or wrong is not fixed but is dependant on situation or culture

Question 5

What does teleological mean?

Answer 5

The idea that goodness is determined by the outcome of an action

Question 6

What does hedonistic mean?

Answer 6

The idea that pleasure is the true good that should be pursued

Question 7

What is the definition of utility principle?

Answer 7

The idea that we should do whatever is useful in terms of increasing overall good and decreasing evil

Question 8

What is the utility principle?

Answer 8

-Bentham takes it as a fact of nature that human beings are motivated by pleasure and pain. We are naturally more inclined to want to do things that bring us pleasure and more likely to avoid things that cause us pain.
-Bentham suggests that this fact presents a simple moral rule to us: that we should do whatever leads to the greatest balance of good over evil, the thing that brings about the greatest pleasure and/or the least amount of pain.
-This is known as the utility principle. The word utility literally means usefulness, so the theory invites us to do whatever is useful to achieve this end

Question 9

What is the hedonic calculus?

Answer 9

-Having established the utility principle, Bentham suggests that there is almost a mathematical way of calculating the overall pleasure and pain involved. This is called the hedonic calculus.
-Bentham suggests that seven factors need to be considered when making a moral decision. For the possible pains and pleasures, we need to consider these seven factors.

Question 10

What are the seven factors Bentham says we should consider for the possible pains and pleasures?

Answer 10

1. Intensity: How strong is the pleasure or pain that is involved?
2. Duration: How long will the pleasure or pain last?
3. Certainty: How sure are we that the anticipated pleasure or pain will occur?
4. Propinquity (closeness or proximity): How soon will the pleasure or pain occur?
5. Fecundity: How likely is that the pleasure will lead to further pleasures?
6. Purity: How likely is it that the pain will result from original pleasure?
7. Extent: How many people will be affected?

Question 11

What is a key quote by Bentham on the utility principle ?

Answer 11

‘By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: to, what is the same thing in other words to promote or to oppose that happiness’

Question 12

What is a key quote from Bentham on nature and pain and pleasure?

Answer 12

‘Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do’

Question 13

What is the swine ethic objection?

Answer 13

-One common objection to utilitarianism is that it is a ‘swine ethic’- an ethic that treats us as if we were pigs. It assumes that we are creatures that value each pleasure identically. Bentham himself claimed that the game of push penny- a simple children’s game- was just as pleasurable as poetry, yet this does not seem right.
-Equally, it has also been noted that in Bentham’s utilitarianism, actions as horrific as gang raps could be supported as the pleasure of the multiple rapists would outweigh the pain of the victim.
-While Bentham would not have intended to imply this, it seems difficult to see how his system can avoid this criticism.

Question 14

Who was John Stuart Mill (biography)?

Answer 14

He was a child genius whose father was a close friend of Jeremy Bentham. He was interested in social justice and politics as well as ethics. His classic works include on Liberty (1859). His marriage to Harriet Taylor, his intellectual equal, reinforced his desire to argue for women’s rights. He also served as a Liberal MP towards the end of his life.

Question 15

What were Mill’s key ideas?

Answer 15

Utilitarianism, the non-harm principle and equal rights for women.

Question 16

What is a key quote from Mill on utilitarianism?

Answer 16

‘It is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied’

Question 17

What does Mill recognise about the quantities utilitarianism of Bentham?

Answer 17

-It risks allowing the ‘tyranny of the majority’, where the pleasure of the majority can justify ignoring the suffering of a minority.
-In on Liberty, he writes about non-harm principle.
-Mill believes that each individual should be free to live as they choose, so long as they do not cause harm to others
-Indeed he argues that the only reason a government should introduce a law is to prevent harm to others

Question 18

Reasons why utilitarianism is a helpful way of making moral decisions?

Answer 18

-Unitarianism (particularly Bentham’s version) is relatively straightforward in the sense that the key idea is not difficult to understand or apply
-It is difficult to object to the basic principle that happiness is a good thing. We would not find many people, if any, who would sincerely argue that they do not want to be happy. This suggests that utilitarianism at least has a good aim
-Utilitarianism is a secular ethical theory and does not rely on God or other metaphysical ideas that cannot be proved in order to justify it’s decisions

Question 19

Reasons why utilitarianism is not a helpful way of making moral decisions?

Answer 19

-Although the idea of utilitarianism is straightforward, the application of the theory is anything but straightforward. There are so many factors and variables to consider. It is also difficult to know how far to take the consequences of an action. Sometimes a simple decision may have repercussions that affect future generations
-Similar to above, utilitarianism requires that we are able to make a reasonable prediction as to the outcome of an action. However, it is not always obvious what the effects of telling the truth vs telling a lie are in any given circumstance. We cannot predict the future#
-While everyone is considered, the greatest good for the greatest number inevitably leads to poorer treatment of minority groups and may disregard rights to serve the greater food. Bentham himself famously refers to rights as ‘nonsense on stilts’

Question 20

What is act utilitarianism?

Answer 20

-Act utilitarianism aims to produce the best balance of good over evil in each case. It takes situations on a case by case basis. Bentham’s hedonic calculus is a good example of such an approach.
-This means that the act utilitarian may well give different answers to the same action, depending on the situation or context.
-For example, there may be greater happiness produced by telling your friend the correct directions to the shop if they need to purchase some essential goods
-Yet telling the truth would not be appropriate if the school bully asks where the person he wishes to beat up is hiding

Question 21

What is rule utilitarianism?

Answer 21

-Rule utilitarianism also aims at the greatest balance of good over evil, but it has the common good of society rather than individuals as it’s starting point
-It suggests that we do on the whole know the actions that typically lead to happiness and pleasure- we know that stealing tends to cause more misery to the victims than pleasure to the thief (particularly if they end up in prison), so we are able to make a utilitarian rule that ‘stealing is wrong’
-It is worth noting that unlike other rule based ethical theories, the rules are not fixed.
-The basis of the rules is entirely utilitarian- the greater good or greatest happiness- hence the rules can be changed if society changes

Question 22

What is strong and weak rule utilitarianism?

Answer 22

-A further distinction within rule utilitarianism is the difference between strong and weak versions of the theory. A string rule utilitarian would argue that once we have decided the rules that lead to the greatest good, these rules are fixed and cannot, under any circumstances, be broken
-A weak rule utilitarian would make allowances for exceptions. While the rules do broadly lead to the greatest food and should generally be followed, there may be exceptional cases that require a rule to be broken
-There is some debate as to whether Mill would align himself with act or rule utilitarianism (the categories are later terms that were not applied during his time)
-He argues that the past experience of human beings does allow us to know the tendencies of actions.
-His principles of liberty and non harm are rules or principles that would seem to allow society to flourish, so he is perhaps best seen as a rule utilitarian
-He is, however, aware of the problem posed by Kant of the murderer seeking his next victim and it is Mill’s view that it would be sensible to lie in that situation, hence weak rule utilitarianism seems to be his broad positions

Question 23

What are the key strengths of utilitarianism?

Answer 23

-Impartiality. Utilitarianism requires that we are objective and that we do not resolve ethical dilemmas by having favourites or resorting to personal biases
-Secular. Utilitarianism, unlike a number of other moral theories, does not resort to religion to justify how we should act. This makes utilitarianism is an attractive theory for a more secular age
-Maximising happiness is a good aim. It would be strange to argue that we should not value happiness or that we should set out to do things that cause more overall unhappiness
-It is a straightforward theory. Utilitarianism is not difficult to understand or apply. If offers a decision procedure that enables moral dilemmas to be solved

Question 24

What are the criticisms of utilitarianism?

Answer 24

There are a number of possible criticisms of utilitarianism, particularly of Bentham’s version
-It is not clear how we are to measure pleasure and pain. If I enjoy kicking people but you do not enjoy being kicked, which pleasure or pain is greater? Things that are measurable have clear units e.g metres, volts or joules. How can pleasure and pain be measured
-Utilitarianism requires prediction of the future. In order to establish what the greater good will be, we have to predict future consequences. Yet the future is not always clear. The baby we save may turn out to be a cruel dictator
-Although in theory each person is regarded equally by utilitarianism, there is potentially a problem for minority groups. For example, if a majority of a society held homophobic views, what would prevent them from imposing their belief that homosexuality was harmful? To some extent, Mill is aware of this criticism and warns against the ‘tyranny of the majority’