Utilitarianism

Question 1

Outline the principle of utility

Answer 1

Utility refers to how useful an object or action is in producing happiness/pleasure (within hedonistic utilitarianism) or satisfying the preferences of those involved (within non-hedonistic utilitarianism).

Question 2

Briefly explain what is meant by utility and maximising utility

Answer 2

Utility refers to how useful an object or action is for producing happiness and minimising pain (within hedonistic utilitarianism) or satisfying the preferences of those involved (within non-hedonistic). Therefore, ‘maximising utility’ is any action which augments happiness/pleasure or satisfies preferences.

Question 3

Outline Mill’s distinction between higher and lower pleasures

Answer 3

John Stuart Mill drew a distinction between higher and lower pleasures, with higher pleasures being the ones of highest value and the longest lasting. Higher pleasures are those which satisfy the mind (intellectual pleasures such as reading a philosophy book) and lower pleasures are those which satisfy the body (physical pleasures such as drinking alcohol).

Question 4

Briefly explain Nozick’s experience machine

Answer 4

Nozick’s experience machine is a thought experiment which seeks to prove that pleasure is not the only thing that people seek. Imagine if you were offered an opportunity to step into this machine and live a life of pure pleasure, but you couldn’t return to the real world. Most people would turn this opportunity down, proving that there is something other than pleasure that motivates us.

Question 5

What is meant by ‘tyranny of the majority’?

Answer 5

Within the context of utilitarianism, ‘tyranny of the majority’ is the risk that if we seek to create the greatest pleasure for the greatest number, individual rights can be lost in order to appease the majority. For example, this could allow the wife of a terrorist to be tortured for information, because it may be able to save more people.

Question 6

What does it mean to say that a utilitarian theory is non-hedonistic?

Answer 6

Hedonism means pleasure and so for a utilitarian theory to be non-hedonistic means that it focuses on something other than pleasure as utility, for example maximising the satisfaction of preferences.

Question 7

What does it mean to say that pleasure is quantitative?

Answer 7

Bentham’s hedonistic utilitarianism is quantitative, meaning that the type of pleasure is irrelevant, it is the amount of pleasure which matters. This means that all forms of pleasure are equal (‘pushpin is equal to poetry’) and our concern should be to maximise the amount of pleasure.

Question 8

What does it mean to say that pleasure is qualitative?

Answer 8

John Stuart Mill’s form of utilitarianism is qualitative. This means that not all pleasures are of equal value (‘some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others’), so we should try to maximise higher pleasures (intellectual pleasures such as reading a philosophy book) rather than lower pleasures (physical pleasures such as drinking alcohol).

Question 9

Outline Bentham’s hedonistic utilitarianism

Answer 9

Act utilitarianism is a consequentialist normative ethical theory associated with Jeremy Bentham. It states that an action has utility is if maximises pleasure and minimises pain (as articulated by the utility principle). An act utilitarian would use the utility calculus on an act-by-act basis to work out which action would augment utility using the following criteria: duration, remoteness, purity, richness, intensity, certainty and extent. This form of utilitarianism is quantitative, meaning that all pleasure is of equal value. Finally, act utilitarianism considers the happiness of all people involved equally as ‘everybody is to count for one and no more than one’.

Question 10

Explain Bentham’s utility calculus

Answer 10

The utility calculus was devised by Bentham as a method for measuring pleasure so people can choose the action that best satisfies the utility principle (of maximising pleasure and minimising pain). Within this calculus, pleasure is measured in terms of ‘hedons’. It sets out seven criteria:

How strong the pleasure is (intensity)

How long the pleasure lasts (duration)

How likely it is that the pleasure will occur (certainty)

How far away in time the pleasure will occur (remoteness)

The likelihood that the pleasure will lead to further pleasure (richness)

The likelihood that the pleasure will be followed by pain (purity)

How many people are affected (extent)

Question 11

Outline John Stuart Mill’s qualitative hedonistic utilitarianism

Answer 11

Mill’s form of utilitarianism is based on the principle of utility (whereby utility is maximising pleasure and minimising pain – this is hedonism) and considers pleasure to be qualitative. This means that not all pleasures are of equal value (‘some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others’), so we should try to maximise higher pleasures (intellectual pleasures such as reading a philosophy book) rather than lower pleasures (physical pleasures such as drinking alcohol).

Question 12

Explain act utilitarianism

Answer 12

Act utilitarianism is a consequentialist normative ethical theory associated with Jeremy Bentham. It states that an action has utility is if maximises pleasure and minimises pain (as articulated by the utility principle). An act utilitarian would use the utility calculus on an act-by-act basis to work out which action would augment utility using the following criteria: duration, remoteness, purity, richness, intensity, certainty and extent. This form of utilitarianism is quantitative, meaning that all pleasure is of equal value. Finally, act utilitarianism considers the happiness of all people involved equally as ‘everybody is to count for one and no more than one’.

Question 13

Explain rule utilitarianism

Answer 13

Rule utilitarianism is a consequentialist normative ethical theory associated with John Stuart Mill. It is based on the principle of utility (whereby utility is maximising pleasure or minimising pain). Rule utilitarianism states that there are secondary principles/rules to ensure the happiness of general society (such as do not steal) which either should never be broken (strong rule) or only broken in exceptional circumstances (Weak rule).

Question 14

Explain preference utilitarianism

Answer 14

Preference utilitarianism is a non-hedonistic form of utilitarianism associated with R.M Hare and Peter Singer. It is non-hedonistic as it seeks to maximise utility but understands utility in terms of the satisfaction of people’s preferences, rather than the greatest good for the greatest number. Therefore, according to preference utilitarianism, to act ethically is to act to maximise the satisfaction of preferences. Singer argued that we should be ‘impartial observers’ when thinking ethically, meaning our own interests should not override anybody else’s. Furthermore, the principle of ‘equality of consideration’ holds that the preferences of every sentient being should be taken into account

Question 15

Explain how an act utilitarian might make a moral decision

Answer 15

An act utilitarian would consider, on an act-by-act basis, which action is most likely to maximise pleasure and/or minimise pain (in accordance with the utility principle). They would consider all people who might be affected by the action as all ‘count for one and no more than one’. As they consider pleasure to be quantitative, all forms of pleasure would be considered equally. The might use the utility calculus to calculate hedons of pleasure (using the criteria of duration, remoteness, purity, richness, intensity, certainty and extent), with the action generating the most hedons being the one they would do.

Question 16

Explain how a rule utilitarian might make a moral decision

Answer 16

A rule utilitarian would use secondary principles to determine the right action to make. These are rules which are based on actions that generally make people in society happier (such as ‘do not hit people’- people are generally happier if they aren’t being hit). A strong rule utilitarian would follow these principles without exception, whereas a weak rule utilitarian may break them in extreme situations. In this case, they would revert to the utility principle and do the action that they think would maximise happiness and/or minimise pain

Question 17

Explain how a preference utilitarian might make a moral decision

Answer 17

Utilitarianism is a consequentialist normative ethical theory based on the principle of maximising utility. Preference utilitarians understand ‘utility’ in terms of the satisfaction of preferences. To make a moral decision, they would (on an act-by-act basis) consider possible actions and ask people what their preferences are. They would also follow the principle of ‘equality of consideration’ (meaning that everybody involved should be considered equally) and would aim to be an ‘impartial observer’ (meaning that they won’t let their own interests override anybody else’s). They would then choose the action which maximises the preferences of as many people involved as possible.

Question 18

Explain Mill’s ‘proof’ of utilitarianism

Answer 18

P1: The only evidence that something is audible or visible is that it can be heard or seen

P2: The only evidence that something is desirable is that it is desired

P3: People desire their own happiness, therefore it must be desirable

P4: If happiness is good for me as an individual, then general happiness is good to the aggregate of all persons

C1: Therefore, happiness is good

P5: People desire all sorts of things, such as a good job, a nice house etc… but this is only because they lead to the ultimate end of happiness

C2: Therefore, happiness is the only good

Question 19

Brief explanation of utilitarianism (to start issues questions)

Answer 19

Utilitarianism is a consequentialist normative ethical theory which states that what is morally right is the act that has the most utility (maximises pleasure and minimises pain)

Question 20

Explain the issue that pleasure is not the only good (Nozick’s experience machine)

Answer 20

Hedonistic utilitarianism is based on the principle of psychological hedonism – that what motivates people is pleasure and therefore pleasure is the only good. However, Nozick’s experience machine shows that pleasure is not the only good. He argued that if pleasure was the only good, then everybody would happily step into his hypothetical machine where only pleasurable experiences happen, even though once you stepped in, you could not step back out. The majority of people, however, would not choose to step into the machine. This shows that we must be motivated my things other than pleasure, which undermines the hedonistic utilitarian view that pleasure is the only good.

Question 21

Explain the issue of fairness and individual rights

Answer 21

The moral basis of human rights is deontological, as they are intrinsically good. This is incompatible with consequentialist theories, like utilitarianism, which argue that something is only good not because of anything intrinsic, but depending on whether it leads to happiness. The utilitarian could never say ‘X is wrong’ or ‘X is right’, they could only say ‘X is right/wrong is it leads to/doesn’t lead to the greatest happiness for the greatest number’. A utilitarian couldn’t say, for example, ‘torture is wrong’. In fact, if 10 people gained happiness from torturing one person, then utilitarianism indicates that this was right. Therefore, utilitarianism violates the moral intuitions of most people and does not protect individual rights.

Question 22

Explain the issues of calculating utility

Answer 22

The utility principle states that the right thing to do is maximising the greatest pleasure for the greatest number. The issue that arises here is that it is difficult to calculate pleasure for the following reasons:

What type of pleasure should I focus on? There is a conflict between quantitative and qualitative utilitarianism which makes the answer to this unclear.

How can I calculate pleasure when I am relying on predicting consequences? I could unknowingly cause more pain than pleasure (e.g. saving a drowning boy who turns into a dictator).

What is the best way to distribute happiness? Should I give 100 people £1 each or 1 person £100 if the total happiness would be the same?

Who should I consider in my calculations? Should everybody distantly affected by my actions be considered or just those directly involved? Should I consider animals too?

These issues demonstrate that utilitarianism is difficult to follow.

Question 23

Explain the issue of partiality in utilitarianism

Answer 23

Bentham argued that every person ‘counts for one and no more than one’, implying that everybody’s happiness should be considered equally in moral decision-making. The implication of this is that we should be impartial, not prioritising the happiness of our family and friends over strangers. For example, if we had to choose between saving two strangers or a family member, utilitarianism would oblige us to choose the strangers. The issue here is that utilitarianism seems counter-intuitive as we feel that there is moral worth in looking after our loved ones.

Question 24

Explain the issue that utilitarianism ignores moral integrity

Answer 24

Bernard Williams gave this argument against utilitarianism:

P1: Personal integrity requires that there are things (X) which you would not do

P2: Using a utilitarian framework, a scenario could always be created whereby X is the right thing to do

C: The issue is, therefore, that utilitarianism undermines our personal integrity

He also gave an example to illustrate this: the ‘Jim and the Indians’ scenario. Jim is travelling when he encounters a group of 20 indigenous people surrounded by soldiers. He is offered the choice of shooting one of them, or the soldiers will shoot them all. Utilitarianism states that he ought to shoot one person to minimise pain for the greatest number. The issue here is that, as articulated by Williams, ‘no moral theory ought to demand the taking of an innocent life’.

Question 25

Explain the issue that utilitarianism ignores the intentions of the individual

Answer 25

Utilitarianism is a consequentialist normative ethical theory, meaning that it focuses on the consequences of an action to determine its moral worth rather than the intention behind it. If the consequences of two actions are the same, they have the same moral worth. For example, person A visits her grandma every week so she might benefit in her grandma’s will, whereas person B visits her grandma every week to make her happy. In a utilitarian framework, these actions have the same moral worth. The issue here is that utilitarianism is counter intuitive as we want to attribute moral worth to the intention too.

Question 26

Explain the similarities and differences between act and rule utilitarianism

Answer 26

The core similarity is that they are both forms of utilitarianism, the normative moral theory that pleasure is good, and the right act is one that maximises pleasure/happiness. Act and rule utilitarianism are both hedonistic, meaning that they both subscribe to the belief that pleasure/happiness is the only good for humans and as such we should seek to maximise it. This is in accordance with the utility principle, which they both follow, which argues that an object or action has utility if it maximises pleasure/happiness and minimises pain.

However, there are some key differences between the two forms. Act utilitarianism sees pleasure as quantitative, meaning that it doesn’t matter what it is that brings you pleasure, we should just focus on the amount – crucially, all forms of pleasure are of equal value. Rule utilitarianism, however, sees pleasure as qualitative. It draws a distinction between higher (intellectual pleasures like reading a philosophy book) and lower (physical pleasures like drinking alcohol) pleasures, with higher pleasures being more valuable. There is also a difference between how they would make moral decisions. Act utilitarians would follow the utility calculus, which measures pleasure in hedons (according to the criteria of duration, richness, purity, remoteness, intensity, certainty and extent), with the action generating the most hedons being the one they would do. Alternatively, rule utilitarians would act in accordance with secondary principles (rules that generally keep society happier), either adhering to them in every situation (strong rule) or only breaking them in exceptional circumstances (weak rule).

Question 27

Essay plan - ‘is utilitarianism convincing?’

Answer 27

1. Explain act utilitarianism
2. Explain issue that it ignores moral integrity (Bentham’s response about societal conditioning)
3. Explain issue of calculating utility (holding it in view response)
4. Explain rule utilitarianism
5. Issue of absolutism