Utilitarianism Flashcards
What type of theory is utilitarianism?
Teleological and relativist.
Who developed utilitarianism?
Jeremy Bentham
What is the principle of utility?
The idea that an act is right if it delivers more pleasure than pain.
What does egalitarian mean?
It applies to everyone.
In what way is Bentham’s utilitarianism quantitative?
It is concerned with the number of people affected by an action.
What way of measuring pain and pleasure did Bentham suggest?
The hedonic calculus.
What are the seven elements of the hedonic calculus?
Intensity, duration, certainty, remoteness, likelihood, purity and extent
What is Act utilitarianism?
Where the principle of utility is applied to each individual situation.
What is right or wrong may change, being a relativist theory
What type of utilitarianism is Bentham associated with?
Act utilitarianism
How did Mill criticise act utilitarianism?
It allows a ‘tyranny of the majority’.
Bentham’s utilitarianism could allow for an action to be moral if it pleases an evil majority, such as throwing christians to the lions for entertain a large crowd.
What did Mill believe about the worth of pleasures?
Disagreed with Bentham; there are different types of pleasures;
- Base pleasures
- Higher pleasures
Summarise the main difference between Bentham and Mill’s thinking
Bentham was concerned more with the quantity of pleasure, Mill was more concerned with the quality of pleasure.
What analogy does Roger Crisp use to explain the difference between Bentham and Mill
The analogy of Hadyn and the immortal oyster.
In terms of quantity of happiness, the oyster experiences more (being immortal), but in terms of quality of happiness, Hadyn experiences more despite being mortal.
For what is Mill’s thinking often criticised?
It is difficult to decide which pleasures are higher and which are base.
Who does Mill argue can decide what is a base and what is a higher pleasure?
Someone that has experienced both is a competent judge.
What is sovereignty and who believed in it?
An individual’s right to make their own decisions.
Mill believed in it
What is the Harm principle?
The argument that the actions of individuals should only be limited to prevent harm to other individuals.
Eg, someone can smoke in private but not around others as it’s their choice to harm their own body, but they cannot choose to harm others.
What is Rule utilitarianism?
General rules should be formed for the good of society on the basis of the principle of utility.
For example, lying generally results in unhappiness and therefore I will make a rule to not lie.
What is strong rule utilitarianism?
Sticking to the rules rigidly. Non relativist.
What is weak rule utilitainism?
There are general rules, but in some situations they are able to be broken to align with the principle of utility.
What is an issue with Mill’s focus on the quality of pleasures.
What a base pleasure and a higher pleasure may vary from person to person, being objective.
Therefore, absolute moral decisions cannot be made on the types of pleasure.
