Utilitarianism

Question 1

Who created the principle of utility?

Answer 1

Jeremy Bentham and John Stewart Mill

Question 2

What is the definition of utilitarianism?

Answer 2

It is the attempt to try to produce the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people

Question 3

What is Bentham’s hedonic calculus?

Answer 3

A theory used to evaluate the quantity of happiness that would be caused by a certain action

Question 4

What are the 7 categories to consider in the hedonic calculus?

Answer 4

1. Intensity
2. Duration
3. Certainty
4. Remoteness
5. Fecundity
6. Purity
7. Extent

Question 5

What was the social and historical background to utilitarianism?

Answer 5

18th century England had undergone many radical changes (due to IR) which had resulted in the uprising of many social issues such as homelessness, alcoholism, prostitution, etc.

Question 6

What is telology and consequensialism?

Answer 6

Telology: the action is right or wrong depending on the outcome
Consequensialism: the consequences of an action judge whether it was right or wrong

Question 7

What is Act utilitarianim?

Answer 7

Bentham had created the idea of act utilitarianism where in every situation, the individual should decide which choice will cause the greatest happiness; in this form they have free will to choose what will maximise happiness

Question 8

Name 2 strengths and weaknesses of AU

Answer 8

Strengths:
- Flexibility
- More accurate (Hedonic calculus)

Weakness:
- Most decisions are partial/biased due to free will of choice
- Any act can potentially be justified (whether moral or immoral)

Question 9

What is Rule utilitarianism?

Answer 9

Mill’s idea of utilitarianism was that the individual in the situation should follow moral rules in order to maximise utility instead of having free will to choose what they think maximises utility

Question 10

Name 2 Strength and weakness of RU

Answer 10

Strengths:
- Impartiality
- Maximises utility (people are following a moral rule therefore cannot be misguided)

Weakness:
- No defence for minority opinions
- unflexible

Question 11

What is Preferred utilitarianism?

Answer 11

This form of utilitarianism says that in order to maximise happiness, the individual should choose what will bring them the greatest happiness in a situation (their preference)

Question 12

What is Ideal utilitarianism?

Answer 12

Moore invented IU which says that the individual should choose the option that is most moral (good). This does not mean that it should be based upon what will bring most pleasure, as goodness is separate from pleasure.

Question 13

What is negative utilitarianism?

Answer 13

Negative utilitarianism is this simple idea that we should instead focus on minimising the amount of pain that occurs instead of maximising happiness. This however runs into the same problem as AU and RU as we would need to define what would be painful for everyone.