Utilitarianism Flashcards
What are the 3 types of Utilitarianism?
Rule, Law and Preference
Who is the key figure of Rule Utilitarianism?
John Stuart Mill
Who is the key figure of Act Utilitarianism?
Jeremy Bentham
Who is the key figure of Preference Utilitarianism?
Peter Singer
Utilitarianism is a strictly teleological theory in that …
its goal is the moral good of persons
There is no agreement amongst Utilitarians as to to precisely what …
good is
Every form of Utilitarianism has two absolute requirements what are they?
to work to achieve the good and always follow the principle of utility to do so.
The claim of utilitarianism is to …
provide a single principle to resolve the dilemmas of life, to be applied without exception
What’s the principle of utility?
Greatest happiness for the greatest number
Bentham quote on principle of utility -
“Create all the happiness you are able to create: remove all the misery you are able to remove. Every day will allow you to add something to the pleasure of others, or to diminish something of their pains”
Problem with the principle of utility is …
Needs to be supplemented with what good actually is
Bentham was a strict hedonist what did this mean his views were?
happiness - and hence the good - is pleasure. A hedonist is saying pleasure is the good and nothing else is.
Main issue with hedonist calculus?
Seems impossible for there to be a bad pleasure
Seven criteria of hedonist calculus?
- Intensity
- Duration
- Certainty
- Propinquity
- Fecundity
- Purity
- Extent
Intensity?
How strong is the pleasure?
Duration?
How long will the pleasure last?
Certainty?
How likely is it the pleasure will truly happen?
Propinquity?
How soon will the pleasure occur?
Fecundity?
How probable is it that pleasant sensations will occur
Purity?
How unlikely is it that the action will lead to pain rather than pleasure
Extent?
How many people will be affected
What’s act utilitarianism?
For each act we should determine which outcome leads to the greatest general good, on a case-by-case basis.
Problem of act utilitarianism?
People don’t have the time or information to make necessary hedonist calculus calculation.
What’s rule utilitarianism?
Argues we should always follow the rule that will lead to the greatest balance of good over evil.
JS Mill view of principle of liberty?
If always followed, leads to the greatest general happiness even though some will go off the rails and damage themselves
What’s JS Mill’s principle of liberty?
“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”
Problem with rule utilitarianism?
Places preservation of the rule above individual need. Is reluctant to prevent individual harm because the rule of liberty should be followed for the greatest general happiness.
What’s preference utilitarianism?
We should look to to seek as the good that which we would rationally prefer as an outcome. We should do what on balance further the preferences of those affected.
Problem with preference utilitarianism?
If a child has a 50% chance of haemophilia (a disease carrying the risk of death) Singer would advise the mother carrying the gene to abort as soon as scans show the child is a boy as the child can in principle be replaced. This is seen as dismissing the sacredness of life.
