Utilitarianism Flashcards
Define hedonism
The belief that pleasure is the chief good
Quote from Bentham about hedonism
‘Nature has placed mankind under two sovereign masters- pleasure and pain. It for them to point out what we ought to do as well as to determine what we shall do.’
Define utility principle
The rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its utility or usefulness. Action should only be done if it brings the maximum pleasure for the parties affected.
Actions must be voluntary
Must consider the unhappiness coming from the actions as the greater unhappiness detracts from the greater happiness
Self sacrifice should be practiced if collectively more people would have pleasure when you had pain
Makes it a TELEOLOGICAL theory- concerned by outcomes
Describe 7 parts of the Hedonic Calculus
PIPED FC
Purity- chance of being followed by a different action
Intensity
Propinquity- state of being close to something
Extent
Duration
Fecundity- chance of being followed by the same action
Certainty
Who was John Stuart Mill?
- Advocate of Rule Utilitarianism, 1806-73
- Son of James Mill, Scottish philosopher and follower of Bentham
- Refined and revised Bentham’s theory- making it was qualitative and less quantitative
- Advocate of minority groups e.g. women- ‘on liberty’ and ‘the subjugation of women’
- administrator for East India Company
- MP
Outline Rule Utilitarianism
- Qualitative
- saw flaws in Bentham- sadistic guards, bullies
- Looked at higher and lower pleasures- poetry vs binge drinking but recognised the link between them
- Higher pleasures have intrinsic value of itself
- If you do not nurture higher pleasures you will sink into base gratifications
- ‘better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied. Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.’
Strengths of Utilitarianism
- links morality with happiness and pain a avoidance
- good for society- democratic and benefits the majority
- teaches to considers consequences- TELEOLOGICAL
- invokes equality in society
- easy to comprehend
- proposes practical methods e.g. Organising hospital budget a&e and rare cancer ward
- popular- still used today
- Mill corrected Bentham’s errors
Weaknesses of Utilitarianism
- difficult to accurately interpret consequences of an action- no bird’s eye view
- happiness of minority is ignored- sadistic guards, bullies
- difficult to weigh up pleasures and pains even with hedonic calculus, which doesn’t account for different perceptions of pain and pleasure
- HC can justify immoral actions e.g. Lunch mob, sadistic guards
- not right that we must always be honest- truth can be cruel e.g.dead husband was a cheat
- rules in society do not suit every individual
Describe key facts about Jeremy Bentham
- He was an advocate of Act Utilitarianism
- Destined for a legal career but read Priestley’s ‘An essay on government’ and came across- ‘greatest good for the greatest number’
- Spoke Latin and French by age 5
- Took degree at Oxford at 16
- 1748-1832
- focused on the individual- introduced birth and death records
Example to use to demonstrate hedonic calculus
-abortion after rape or after failed contraception debate
Duration- immediate happiness but infertility?
Extent- only parents happy, but could have it adopted and give others chance of love
Example of where act utilitarianism works
Jewish mother is hiding from the Nazis in WW2 and smoothers her baby to death because she is crying. They are in a big group and killing the baby saves them all from being captured.
What problems did Mill find with Act Utilitarianism?
Rules are important because;
- cannot have time to PIPEDFC to every moral decision in that moment so it is impractical
- certain actions are intrinsically wrong e.g. Murder or rape
- you can’t ignore minority groups e.g. One black slave in an all white household is treated very badly
Rule utilitarianism in embryo research
-pre-genetic diagnosis
To determine the health of the unborn embryo
Mill would argue that it is good because children with these genetic conditions eg. Cystic fibrosis would struggle to have a normal life sometimes, better to have a satisfied human being
But, Mill would disagree because being born with the condition is better than not being born at all.
Pleasure of child growing up happy and parents happy is a higher pleasure so Mill would advocate PGD. Qualitatively greatest pleasure for the greatest number.
Act utilitarianism in embryo research
-PIPED FC- duration of life for sufferers could be increased, extents family of sufferer are also happy, it is not certain that there will be a positive end
-greatest good for greatest number- one embryo could help millions but millions could be destroyed to help no one. Greater pleasure for sufferers could outweigh the pain of the embryo- cannot feel pain before 14 days anyway
So DOES CONDONE embryo research, thinks less of feelings of the embryo
What are the strengths of Utilitarianism when applied to medical research and development?
Objective; the positives and negatives of a situation can be assessed which gives us an objective and independent way of deciding what it right or wrong. In relation to animal research this is a strength because it enables scientists to justify doing effective and moral research on animals but condemns the use of animals when there would be no use for the results. E.g. Dolly the sheep, repeated experiments, taking cats’ sexual organs to see how it affects the animal’s behaviour- this has no use for humans. There is no use to conduct the same experiments in different countries because we already know the answer.
Universal- the theory can be used by a range of different people in a variety of different cultures as no matter who you are or what you believe in, you all have a similar understanding of happiness. Universalisation of the theory allows you to apply it to modern day issues such as embryo research as laws from thousands of years ago did not have knowledge of embryo research, so couldn’t have addressed in their theories/laws
Democratic; utilitarianism balances the interests of everyone which enables you to make well rounded decisions about issues in the world as you are able to take into account a numerous amount of viewpoints. As different countries and different religions have their own views on the experimentation of humans in medical research, utilitarianism allows scientists to make an objective decisions which takes all views in to account
Greatest good for greatest number- this can be applied to Embryo research : using embryos to find cures for degenerative diseases e.g. Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s - benefits the greatest good for greatest number and millions around the world therefore, a strength
Secular; does not rely on religious teachings. This relates to embryo research, e.g. The Roman Catholic Church states ‘thou shalt not murder’ so would reject all embryo research as life begins at conception even if positives can be gained from it - utilitarianism looks at outcomes to see if the greatest good can be produced.
The theory works, when applied properly this theory works, if there are negative consequences then the theory has not been applied correctly. If you applied the theory to animal experiments then you can see that the extent of the theory is vast, e.g. Finding cures for diseases such as cancer would produce major amounts of pleasure therefore it would be morally right. The duration of the benefits from animal experimentation are long as if treatments or cures are developed then it would be lifelong. E.g. Rainbow trout for sickness from cancer treatment, the duration of this pleasure would be for a long time.
