utilitarianism Flashcards
INTRO
teleological, consequentialist, relative - seeks to maximise happinnes for greatness of people
for the sake of this essay, I will refer to Mill as a weak rule utilitarian, as he argued for moral rules which tend to promote the greatest happiness, though they could be broken when necessary
Jeremy Bentham
act util - driven by utility in individual situation
- judgement about balance of pain and pleasure
For bentham - humans are naturally driven towards pleasure and away from pain
‘two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure’
hedonic calculus
seems to require that we can know the future - not only consequences, but all possible actions we could do in a situation
problem of knowing - Mackie terms Utilitarianism the “ethics of fantasy.”
- impractical to mark complex calculations under time constraints
- Benthams Hedonic Calculus is a list of seven criteria which each measure a different aspect of the pleasurable consequences of an action + calculates the benefit or
harm of an action through its consequences
- it attempts to reduce human experience to an equation (cannot objectively measure subjective factors such as intensity and certainty of pleasure)
Rawls in ‘A Theory of Justice’
rejects idea that happiness of group can be meaningfully counted together
this entails treating a group of many as if it were a single entity, mistakenly ignoring the separation of individuals
- principle of utility becomes futile
- allows for majority to oppress a minority
quantitative vs qualitative
- it is only concerned with the quantity of pleasure, not with the type
- Roger crisp also criticised bentham for this - since all pleasures are measurable on a single scale, there must come a point at which the oyster life becomes more worthy of choice than that of the composer
- Mill combated this objection by distinguishing between lower pleasures gained from bodily activity and higher pleasures gained from mental activity - tend to produce more durable pleasure with less cost than lower pleasures.
rule utilitarianism
Rule Utilitarians establish rules for what to do based on the ‘amount’ of utility generated if a given action was chosen in all similar situations.
For example, rule utilitarians might always tell the truth, as this is generally better for everyone, even if act utilitarians would argue that there are particular circumstances where a lie might be individually desirable.
avoids problems of act utilitarianism of act by having a fixed set of rules to follow - don’t need to calculate every individual situation, something that it rather different to do in practice
mill - ‘strictly impartial’
serious tension in Bentham’s theory between his theory of human nature (that humans are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain) and his principle of utility (the greatest happiness of the greatest number).
‘Strictly impartial as a disinterested and benevolent spectator’ Mill -
over emphasis on impartial reasoning, underestimating power of compassion and disregards loyalty one might have**
If you were in a burning building and had a choice between saving a child and an expensive painting, which would you choose?
Fraser argues that saving the painting suggests a lack of sympathy for the child and thus Utilitarianism encourages us to be immoral
William MacAskill responds that actually saving the painting suggests a more cultivated sympathy which is able to connect to the many more children elsewhere who are in just as much need of saving
practically impossible to expect people to act in the way utilitarianism wants - Human emotions, such as empathy, are thus a practical impediment to the implementation of utilitarianism
Williams - the integrity objection - the fact that each agent carries out their moral deliberation from their own perspective, not from some imaginary ‘God’s eye view’. The relationships I have to others ground reasons which are in conflict with the impartial act utilitarian principle.
Crisp - They would have no deep personal relationships,
