Utilitarianism

Question 1

Utilitarianism

Answer 1

Utilitarianism is the philosophical theory that analyses whether or not an action gives the greatest happiness to the largest amount of people.

Question 2

Teleological & consequentialist

Answer 2

Utilitarianism is a teleological theory, which means it is focused upon the end goal, the result, as opposed to the moral theory.
It is also a consequentialist theory and focuses on the outcomes of a moral judgement.

Question 3

Jeremy Bentham

Answer 3

Leading philosopher in Utilitarianism and he promoted the utility principle as the best way to make a decision for the majority.Bentham focused on the idea of ‘pleasure’ as opposed to happiness.

Question 4

The utility principle

Answer 4

The utility principle argues that an action is correct if it promotes happiness and wrong if it creates pain.The definition of utility is usefulness. So the utility principle analyses the usefulness of the actions.The utility principle is applied to potential decisions and is used to decide whether this action will produce the largest amount of pleasure for the largest amount of people. If it does, it is the correct action to take. If it does not, then an alternative should be found.

Question 5

The Hedonic calculus

Answer 5

a method of applying the utility principle to potential decisions and working out which action will produce the most pleasure.
The hedonic calculus asks seven questions about the potential action. This then concludes how much pleasure and how much pain would result from this action. PRRICED

Question 6

Purity

Answer 6

Will this pain lead to another pain?

Question 7

Remoteness

Answer 7

Is the pleasure or pain in the near or distant future?

Question 8

Richness

Answer 8

Will this pleasure lead to another pleasure?

Question 9

Intensity

Answer 9

Is the pleasure or pain intense? How intense?

Question 10

Certainty

Answer 10

How certain are you that the pleasure or pain will actually happen?

Question 11

Extent

Answer 11

The number of people that would be affected by the pleasure or pain.

Question 12

Duration

Answer 12

Will the pleasure or pain last for a long time? A short time?

Question 13

Act utilitarianism

Answer 13

Jeremy Bentham’s act utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of an action, not the intention behind it or the moral obligation a human has to others and the world around them.

Question 14

Principles of act utilitarianism

Answer 14

Act utilitarianism avoids moral rules, such as the ten commandments, because it is based solely upon the consequences of actions. Moral rules do not apply in this version of utilitarianism.If an action produces the greatest happiness for the largest amount of people, then a moral rule does not matter.This means act utilitarianism is known for looking at each situation based on its individuality.

Question 15

Happiness for largest majority

Answer 15

Act utilitarianism focuses on promoting happiness and pleasure over pain for the largest majority of people.

Question 16

Criticisms: pleasure can be bad

Answer 16

Act utilitarianism has a few weaknesses which caused John Stuart Mill to devise rule utilitarianism. “ doctrine of swine” There are certain situations in which pleasure can actually be bad and pain can be a good thing.The hedonic calculus can be used in a bad way to simply achieve what people want rather than looking at what is actually good for the majority.

Question 17

Criticism: family attachments

Answer 17

Bentham says we need to look past family attachments and this shouldn’t come into our decision process.However, this is impossible as humans do have an obligation to their family and it would be very difficult to not take this into account when making a decision.

Question 18

Rule Utilitarianism

Answer 18

Devised by John Stuart Mill. Rule utilitarianism focuses on the application of moral rules to decision-making and how these rules can produce the greatest happiness.

Question 19

Rejection of hedonic calculus

Answer 19

Mill rejected the hedonic calculus as he felt it took too long to use it and it could be misused.

Question 20

Mill’s qualitative approach

Answer 20

Whilst Bentham used a quantitative approach to pleasure and happiness - the amount of pleasure - Mill applied a qualitative approach to his version of utilitarianism - some pleasures are better than others.

Question 21

‘Harm principle’

Answer 21

He stated that if an action involved harming another person, it was wrong.
Applying this harm principle to utilitarianism makes the hedonic calculus more ethical and prevents people from using it in a non-moral way.

Question 21

Higher and lower pleasures

Answer 21

Mill divided pleasures into sections: higher and lower pleasures.Things like philosophy are higher pleasures, whilst drinking alcohol and eating out in expensive restaurants are lower pleasures.Mill believed humans should not be aiming for individual pleasures, but for the whole happiness of societies and communities.

Question 22

Act vs rule utilitarianism

Answer 22

Bentham focused on analysing each individual act and the amount of pleasure for the most amount of people.

Mill focused on applying general rules to decisions and trying to produce the greatest amount of happiness for the whole of human society as opposed to pleasure for the majority.

Question 23

Preference utilitarianism

Answer 23

preference utilitarianism entails promoting actions that fulfil the interests (i.e., preferences) of those beings involved.

Question 24

Peter singer

Answer 24

Like Utilitarians before him, Singer emphasises that peoples’ preferences count equally—my
preference for something is no more important simply because it is my preference. This requires an impartial perspective is taken when considering the correct moral action. In identifying the right thing to do, we must consider all those affected by an action and aim to act in accordance with
the majority´s preferences.

Question 25

Advantages of utilitarianism

Answer 25

A great number of people gain happiness and pleasure from the principle being applied.
As human beings, we naturally look at the consequences of an action before we make a decision. So the hedonic calculus is logical and easy for us to use.
Rule utilitarianism promotes happiness by applying societal rules that keep the hedonic calculus from being misused.
The principle as a whole is flexible and easily adaptable to different situations.

Question 26

Disadvantages of utilitarianism

Answer 26

Sometimes, we cannot know the consequences of our actions.
It takes time to apply the hedonic calculus to every decision you make. So it isn’t logical to use it for every decision.The hedonic calculus can be misused by some people and break ethical rules.
Some groups in society may be targeted using the hedonic calculus - meaning minority groups could be unfairly treated.

Question 27

Universally applicable or not?

Answer 27

The utility principle can be applied universally and can reduce harm, thus increasing happiness.But you cannot know what is going to happen in the future, so the principle cannot be used effectively when we do not know whether the action will produce happiness or pain. This means it cannot always be applicable and can be difficult to apply.

Question 28

Can we measure ‘good’?

Answer 28

You could argue that ‘good’ is immeasurable and you cannot put a value on pleasure.
We all have a different understanding of happiness and so we cannot measure or compare pleasure and happiness.

Question 29

Unethical uses of utilitarianism

Answer 29

Although it can be logical to look at the consequences of an action, utilitarianism can be used in unethical ways to produce ‘pleasure’ for some and suffering for others.This means it can be the action itself that makes the decision wrong, not necessarily just the consequences. Finally, you cannot always trust people to use ‘good’ when making a moral decision. Some people may act for their own selfish reasons and justify the decision based on the greater good.