Utilitarianism

Question 1

Who are the key philosophers?

Answer 1

• Jeremy Bentham
• John Stuart Mill

Question 2

Is this deontological or teleological?

Answer 2

Teleological

Question 3

David Hume:

Answer 3

NOT A UTILITARIAN
- First to say ethics should be based on pragmatism.
- Inspires Jeremy Bentham to pursue a useful ethical system.

Question 4

What did Bentham think was the most useful?

Answer 4

Happiness.

Question 5

Why is it called utilitarianism?

Answer 5

Utility- usefulness= happiness.
Wanted a system that benefitted the whole of society.

Question 6

Jeremy Bentham quote:

Answer 6

Uses quote from Francis Hutcheson.
‘The greatest happiness for the greatest number’.
Bentham’s focus is on David Hume and Francis Hutcheson.

Question 7

What is the principle of utility?

Answer 7

Maximise pleasure and minimise pain.
‘governance of two sovereign masters, pleasure and pain’.

Question 8

Key term to describe utilitarianism?

Answer 8

Hedonistic.

Question 9

Is utilitarianism relevant today?

Answer 9

Yes, we live in a utilitarian system, democratic.

Question 10

To Bentham, what is morally correct?

Answer 10

The act that produces the most amount of pleasure and least amount of pain.

Question 11

Problem with focus on pleasure?

Answer 11

Pleasure is subjective, eg. some people are asexual.
- Are all pleasures good?? Masochism.
- Some pain is good. Pain is protective, eg people who have a disorder where they do not experience pain could severely harm themselves.
- The knowledge of pain makes us avoid scary things.

Question 12

What calculation does Bentham come up with?

Answer 12

Hedonic calculus.
Pleasure seeker.
Way of calculating benefit or harm (teleological).

Question 13

Aspects of hedonic calculus?

Answer 13

• Intensity
• Duration
• Certainity
• Fecundity (is it productive?)
• Propinquity (how close is it to pleasure?)
• Purity (is it all pleasure, or some pain?)
• Extent (the more people experiencing the pleasure, the better)

Question 14

Strengths to Bentham’s thinking:

Question 15

Weaknesses to Bentham’s thinking:

Answer 15

• Hedonic calculus difficult to apply when faced with an immediate moral dilemma.
• Teleological so requires you to predict the outcome of a situation.
• What counts as pleasure? Subjective.

Question 16

What problem does JSM have with Bentham’s ethics?

Answer 16

He does not distinguish the types of pleasures. Saw some pleasures as animalistic.
What about the minorities that are then left out?

Question 17

JSM quote:

Answer 17

‘It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied: better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied’.

When you’re ignorant and not thinking, you’re essentially like a pig or a fool.

Question 18

What does JSM come up with?

Answer 18

Higher and lower pleasures.
Lower- shared with animals.
Highest- those that ‘stimulate the mind’.

Question 19

Why do we not always go for the higher pleasures?

Answer 19

Ignorance.
So we need a ‘competent judge’, someone who has experienced the higher and lower pleasures.
They define how much pain/pleasure the action causes as they have experienced both.

Question 20

What is important to JSM?

Answer 20

Altruism (unselfish love for others).

‘to love one’s neighbour as oneself, constitutes the ideal perfection of Utilitarian morality’. (Jesus’ Golden Rule)

Question 21

What does JSM come up with due to altruism?

Answer 21

His own principle of utility:
- Happiness is desirable.
- Happiness is the only thing desirable as an end in itself.
- General happiness of all is desirable. Increasing others happiness increases your own.

Question 22

Bible disagreeing with utilitarianism:

Answer 22

Romans 13:1
‘Let every person be subject to the governing authorities’.

Question 23

Philosophical critics to Mill:

Answer 23

WD Ross- the trolley argument. People don’t always save the greater good if you could instead save someone in a family.

Henry Sidgwick- how can we distinguish higher and lower pleasures from each other? Which higher pleasure takes priority?
Sex seen as animalistic, but some people are educated in sex, become a sex therapist. Still a lower pleasure??

Question 24

Act vs Rule:

Answer 24

Act- Bentham
Mill- Rule

Question 25

Act:

Answer 25

• Looks at the consequences.
• Every individual circumstance must be looked at differently.
• Absolute when applying the hedonic calculus.
• Strong utilitarian.

Question 26

Rule:

Answer 26

• The focus is on the ‘common good’ rather than each individual action.
• Balance of good over evil and pleasure over pain.
• Basis for morality.
• Weak Utilitarian, doesn’t use hedonic calculus, thinks the rule sometimes needs to change for extreme situations. Eg, don’t have a abortion but what about an ectopic pregnancy? Axe murderer (Kant)

Question 27

Act utilitarianism critiques:

Answer 27

• Objectively apply hedonic calculus to situation, provides clear guidelines.
• Subjective, takes into account individual acts.
• BUT, HD impractical.
• HD can be used to justify awful things.

Question 28

Rule Utilitarianism critiques:

Answer 28

• Fair, same applies to everyone.
• Interested in maximising happiness for society. (Bentham pleasure, Mill happiness).
• Based on natural human morality, wanting to help one another.
• BUT, how do you know if a situation is extreme?