Utilitarianism Flashcards
What is utilitarianism
It’s a consequentialist theory. The consequences are what determines if an action is good or bad.
What does utilitarianism follow
It follows the greatest happiness principle
What does the greatest happiness principle divide into
Hedonic principle- pleasure is considered the most important factor
Utility- everyone’s pleasure is considered
Equity- everyone’s pleasure is of equal importance
What was Bentham
Bentham was an act utilitarian which means he judged every action individually based on the circumstances at that particular time.
What would be the right act for Bentham
It would be the one that bought about maximum pleasure for all concerned
What does the hedonic calculus do
It could make a calculation to determine the moral worth of an action, and we’d all have the same score.
How many factors did the hedonic calculus have
7!
What did Bentham value the most
He valued quantity of pleasure above all else
What’s the difference between act and rule utilitarianism
Act looks at the effects of the act itself, while rule asks “what would happen if we did this all the time”
What is the moral rule for act utilitarianism
The principle of the greatest happiness for the greatest number is applied in each situation
What does act utilitarianism consider
The consequences of an action
Weakness of act utilitarianism
There’s an immoral act, no defence for minorities and it’s impractical to say that we should calculate the more consequences of each choice, takes too long
What did mill not agrees with Bentham about
It was quality of happiness not quantity that was important
What did mill believe in
Higher and lower pleasure
What are lower pleasures
Physical like Eating and exercising
What are higher pleasures
Intellectual like reading and listening to classical music
What pleasure would mill said you would pick
You would always chose the higher pleasure over lower pleasures if you had experience both
What does mill use general rules for
To determine if actions are likely to produce the most pleasure, and therefore are more morally better
Why us rule classes as better
It’s a bit more realistic as it doesn’t require you to make complex calculations on every single action- it can be more universal
What was rule utilitarianism aim
To establish rules on utilitarian principles that benefit all in similar circumstances
Why is a weak rule utilitarian are little different from act utilitarian
As the rule may be broken according to circumstance
Criticisms of utilitarianism with happiness
1.The problem with happiness- how can you quantify happiness, what makes one person happy might make another person sad.
Analysis the tyranny of the majority
If a group of every prison guards want to torture a prisoner- utilitarianism suggest we should do it as the happiness of the guards outweighs the unhappiness of the prisoner
Criticisms of utilitarianism 2
There would be some circumstances that have special obligations where we wouldn’t necessarily choose the majority’s happiness
E.g. Of saving your child over strangers. No one would judge you for putting your child above the majority, but utilitarianism wouldn’t allow it
Unrealistic demands, have to make calculations and predictions about every action us time consuming and not practical. There are endless factors to consider and the suggestion is that we always need to be the hero, putting others before ourselves
Criticisms of utilitarianism with consequences
It is too difficult to predict exactly what will happen, as there might be unexpected events
Criticisms of utilitarianism with equity
If everyone’s happiness is measured what happens if the majority want something bad (tyranny of the majority) utilitarianism would suggest we have to make the most people happy
E.g. If a group of evil prison guards want to torture a prisoner utilitarianism suggest we should do it as the happiness of the guards outweighs the unhappiness of the prisoner
