Utilitarianism Flashcards
Bentham’s political position
Social reformer: opposed slavery, the death penalty etc
What type of theory is utilitarianism
Teleological
What is hedonism
The good = pleasure
—> pleasure and good are interchangeable
Issue with hedonism
If good and pleasure are interchangeable
—> what about people who take pleasure out of murder
What are the 7 criteria of the hedonic calculus
- Intensity
- Duration
- Certainty
- Propinquity (how soon)
- Fecundity (the likelyhood)
- Purity
- Extent
How to resolve hedonistic problem in relation to Benthams utilitarianism
Change out good as something other than just pleasure
—> e.g for Mills, happiness
“The greatest good for the greatest number” is attributed to which scholar
Bentham
2 Issues with “the greatest good for the greatest number” principle
Compromises utilitarianism
—> entails a principle of justice
—> majority rule
How does utilitarianism reject natural rights
To assert natural rights would be to create a second principle which would this interfere with utility
How did Bentham describe natural rights
“Rhetorical nonsense”
Mills view on personal liberty + why
People (excluding children and ‘backwards nations’) should have maximum personal liberty
—> everyone would be better of
What is act utilitarianism
For each act, we should determine which outcome leads to the greater general good
—> on a case by case basis (thus, hedonic calculus)
What are 2 issue with act utilitarianism
- People may not have time to evaluate a scenario
- Some may not have the intellectual capacity
What is rule utilitarianism
Follow the rule which leads to the greatest balance of good over evil
issue: in practical use, it desends into either act utilitarianism or deontology
Negative of Mills view on liberty
Disregards that liberty may permit someone to harm themselves
Issue with rule utilitarianism
Places the preservation of rules above individual needs
What is instrumentalism + its issue
Misused liberty (e.g freedom to harm ones self) is a means of preserving the rule
—> does a person therefore exist to preserve rules?
Fatal issue for rule utilitarianism
Rule utilitarianism permits the use of multiple rules
—> the moment we have multiple rules,
There is then issue of rule clash
Singer on utilitarianism
Should be Strictly rational, no appeal to emotion or sentimentality
What is preference utilitarianism (singer)
To faver the satisfaction of outcomes
—> e.g we may prefer outcomes in a rational way that don’t necessarily result in our satisfaction
What is significant about singer’s approach
It is altruistic
Who said “it is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied”
Mill
3 objections to utilitarianism
- As utilitarianism is a teleological theory, there are issues with calculating outcomes
- Sufficient intellectual ability is required to make appropriate decisions
- Absence of fundamental rights
