Utilitarianism Flashcards
Utilitarian intuitions
Believe that the right thing to do is that which maximizes the best possible outcomes for the most people
Principle of Utility
according to Jeremy Bentham:
The Principle of Utility is one which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question
-moral rightness in this way is tied to producing more happiness than pain in the world and the happiness produced is the only thing used to determine whether an action is morally right
- the PU becomes the basis of a more ethical theory Classical Utilitarianism also known as Hedonism
Central tenets of Classical Utilitarianism
-consequentialist and teleological
-equality and impartiality
consequentialist
it focuses on the outcomes of actions as the sole determinant of whether an action is morally right or wrong
an action is morally right if it brings about good consequences (the consequence of interest is happiness)
teleological
ultimate goal or aim of an action that is considered morally good is maximizing happiness (best outcome)
Classical Utilitarianism
Hedonistic because it focuses on the maximization of happiness which is equated to pleasure
The Hedonistic argument
P1: Pleasure is intrinsically good and pain is intrinsically bad
P2: An action is morally right, if on balance it maximizes intrinsically good
C: So, an action is morally right if it maximizes pleasure
Classical Utilitarianism
The morally right action is the one which produces the best balance of happiness over unhappiness for the people that the action impacts
Equality
- identical amounts of pleasure count the same
- interested in the quantity of pleasure produced and no ones pleasure counts more than another persons pleasure if the pleasures are the same quantity
Impartiality
- no ones happiness is more important than the happiness of another
- everyones happiness matters the same because Utilitarianism is ignorant of identity
Overall key aspects of Classical Utilitarianism
- Consequentialist- net pleasure as a consequence of an action
- Overall Happiness- net pleasure is the sole determinant of the moral rightness of an action
- Concerns only parties of interest affected by action
- only interested in the quantity of pleasure produced
- ignorant of identity
Utilitarian Calculus
a standard (objective) procedure of determining the net pleasure produced by an action
-is used to determine whether an action on the whole maximizes happiness
- weighs 7 factors to determine the aggregate quantity of pleasure or happiness
factors of Utilitarian Calculus
- Intensity
- Duration
- Certainty or Uncertainty
- Propinquity or Remoteness
- Fecundity
- Purity
- Extent
Intensity
asks how much pleasure or pain is generated (degree of happiness)
- high degree of pleasure is better
- high degree of pain is worse
Duration
asks how long the pleasure or pain lasts
- longer lasting pleasure is better than shorter
- longer duration of pain is worse than shorter
eg. grief vs being kicked
Certainty
asks how certain or likely is the act to generate pain or pleasure
- guaranteed pain of an action means we have strong moral reason not to do it
- guaranteed pleasure resulting from an action means we have strong moral reason to do it
Propinquity
ask how distant or near (in the future to where the event will occur) is the pleasure or pain
- pleasure now better than pleasure later
- pain later is better than pain now
eg. giving someone their fix
Fecundity
Asks how likely is the initial pleasure produced by by an action is likely to lead to further experience of the SAME kind
- an action that produces initial pleasure and leads to further pleasure is morally better
- an action that produces initial pain and leads to further pain is morally worse
Purity
asks will the initial pleasure or pain lead to further sensations of the OPPOSITE kind
- initial pleasure lead to pain is morally worse
- initial pain lead to pleasure is morally better
Extent
asks how many people will be impacted by the pleasure or pain
- more people feeling pleasure is morally better
- more people feeling pain is morally worse
eg. one person winning vs a team winning
Hedonism critique
- against the Equality of Pleasures
- there are moral considerations more valuable than pleasure
Critique against the Equality of Pleasures
The calculus doesn’t seem to distinguish between pleasures, it is only interested in the fact that net pleasures are produced by an action
defense against the Equality of Pleasures objection
- John Stuart Mill suggested that we rank pleasures in terms of quality
- low pleasures such as eating or sex and high pleasures such as the pursuit of knowledge
Response to defense
we can differ drastically on how we rank pleasures
- not all pleasures are morally relevant meaning they dont matter equally
There are moral considerations more valuable than pleasure
-not all pleasures matter equally because something pleasurable can still be considered morally bad
- there are other reasons outside of pleasure which can account for why an action is morally right
example used for critique 2
eg. Cheating Scenario
-Hedonism would assert that cheating is not morally wrong
- there are other considerations that are important to deliberating morality than pleasure like faithfulness, respect or sincerity
- thus pleasure produced does not entail moral goodness
- pain or pleasure cannot reliably be used as the determinant for whether an action is morally right or wrong
critique 1 and 2 highlight what weakness in Classical Utilitarianism
shows that pleasure or pain may not be a good determinant of whether an action is morally right or wrong
