Utilitarianism (Lecture 5) Flashcards
Who developed utilitarianism?
Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
What does utilitarianism say the most ethical action is?
Maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain for everyone
Nothing else matters
What is the basic premise of utilitarianism?
All pleasure is good, all pain is bad
Ex: no such thing as a little suffering builds character type stuff
What are some other characteristics of utilitarianism?
It’s forward looking (interested in increasing future happiness, does not dwell on past as it cannot be changed)
Uninterested in past wrongs (cant go back and add happiness to those moments)
Whether the person is good or bad is irrelevant
What is the utilitarianism perspective on punishment?
Punishment should only be cast to produce good results
-we dont punished based on past acts (uninterested with past wrongs)
-to produce a good result we have to punish to prevent bad acts and prevent future pain
What are some problems with utilitarianism?
-Are pleasure and pain really the only things we look for and to avoid in life? (Loyalty, integrity, etc)
-Requires a lot of information to know how exactly 1 choice would affect everyone (sometimes its not possible to know the future benefits of an act to make the best decision)
-Doesn’t align with the idea of justice (being punished for a bad act and not punished before you’ve even done anything)
What are the typical responses to these flaws in utilitarianism?
-Hard core utilitarianism: these flaws are irrelevant if you really just want to be happy, and if that’s not your first priority then you’re weird
-Other ethical theories aren’t exactly better, at least this one prioritizes putting more happiness into the world. Why would you choose any other theory that doesn’t put that first?
What is rule utilitarianism?
Idea that you should always follow a rule that creates more happiness
-requires the establishment of a rule rather than deciding case by case
What is act utilitarianism?
A form of utilitarianism that focuses on individual cases
What is the main difference/ main consequence between the two?
Rule: looks into the future, imagines what would happen if we made a certain choice over and over again
Act: look at individual acts and immediate results, short sighted compared to rule
How does Bentham suggest we determine what actions create the most happiness?
He suggests we follow the Hedonistic calculus
What are the factors of the hedonistic calculus?
1) Intensity (level of pain or pleasure the act with cause)
2) Duration (how long will this pain and pleasure last)
3) Certainty or uncertainty (how sure are we that the possibilities will actually happen)
4) Propinquity/Remoteness (how far away will the pain/pleasure be, right away or later)
5) Fecundity/fruitfulness (will there be REPEATED happiness or pain)
6) Purity (only happiness? Only pain?
7) Extent (how many people will be affected)
Which is the most powerful response to any criticisms of utilitarianism?
Rule utilitarianism
