utilitariniasm

Question 1

utilitarianism is a ….

Answer 1

teleological theory of ethics. An action is good if the consequences are favourable

Question 2

utilitarianism is also…

Answer 2

relativist as what is right or wrong depends on the situation

Question 3

background on Bentham

Answer 3

• concerned with social and legal reform
• he was writing at a time where the minority were the poor suffered great hardship
• he wanted a system of ethics that was based on scientific principles rather than the bible

Question 4

what is the principle of utility

Answer 4

an action is right if it delivers more pleasure than pain

Question 5

utilitarianism is then…

Answer 5

egalitarian as it treats everyone equally

Question 6

why is Bethams system quantitative ? give an example to support this

Answer 6

• because it concerns itself with the number of people satisfied by the action
• e.g. a women considering an abortion may have to consider not only herself, but the husband, her other children etc

Question 7

what is the hedonic calculus ?

Answer 7

• a way of measuring pain and pleasure
• intensity, duration, certainty, remoteness, likelihood, purity, extent

-a modern application of this is N.I.C.E who used it to work out which treatments should be available on the NHS. If a new drug is very expensive and only extends life by a few months it might be more cost effective to spend money elsewhere

Question 8

explain what animals have to do with utilitarianism

Answer 8

-as animals experiences pleasure and pain they must also count in calculations

Question 9

Bentham is associated with act utilitarianism. What is this?

Answer 9

• where the principle of utility is applied to each individual case.
• this means that sometimes lying is right and sometimes it is wrong depending on the circumstances and a calculation of whether the lie will bring about greater happiness or cause pain

Question 10

why did mill criticise bethams approach

Answer 10

• it results in a ‘tyranny of the majority
• with benthams quantative utilitarianism one could justify the Roman practice of throwing Christians to the lions
• mill recognised that the minority must also be considered

Question 11

mill believes in an individual’s sovereignty. Explain this

Answer 11

their right to make their own decisions

Question 12

what is mills harm principle ?

Answer 12

that the actions of individuals should only be limited to prevent harm to other individuals.

Question 13

explain benthams quote ‘pushpin is as good as poetry’

Answer 13

• certain pleasure have more worth than others
• mill disagreed seeing pleasures like a simple game as a base pleasure which can be superseded by higher pleasures such as poetry

Question 14

what is rule utilitarianism

Answer 14

• argues that rules should be formed for the good of society based on the principle of utility
• a strong rule utilitarian would stick to this rule rigidly
• a weak rule utilitarian would recognise that in some circumstances one would need to be flexible

Question 15

one obvious comparison between Bentham and mills utilitarianism

Answer 15

Benthams system seems to favour a community based happiness, whereas Mill’s is more about individual happiness

Question 16

explain the strength that utilitarianism is impartial

Answer 16

• we cannot favour our own best interest, or favour people we know or like over everybody else
• we must simply decide what is in the best interest of everybody.
• singer gives the example of a toddler in the pond. If we see a small child who is about to drown we would sacrifice our expensive shoes to jump in and rescue them.
• surely then we should donate the cost of an expensive pair of shoes we are about to buy to a charity to save the life of a child dying of hunger.
• I’d each is to count for one then it doesn’t matter that they are living on the other side of the world and that we have never met them before

Question 17

explain the weakness that utilitarianism requires us to predict the future in order to ascertain what the greater good will be

Answer 17

• but the future is not always clear.
• e.g. if a women decides on an abortion for the sake of her career, she might lose her job and feel guilty about her termination

Question 18

explain the strength that utilitarianism is secular

Answer 18

-it doesn’t require a belief in God, or a fair universe - which is more appropriate in a secular society

Question 19

explain the strength that utilitarianism is progressive

Answer 19

• it has enabled society to move away from traditional views
• e.g. homosexuals can now marry and adopt children as this is in the best interest of everybody; homosexuality harms no one and children can be brought up in a loving environment

Question 20

explain the weakness that happiness and pleasure are hard to measure

Answer 20

• e.g. if I enjoy kicking you, but you don’t like being kicked, who’s pleasure/pain is greater?
• in the same way an innocent man might be hanged to prevent a riot- what matters more?
• the distress of the innocent man and his family or the many civilians who made be affect by his riot.
• however, Bentham did attempt to resolve this problem by creating the hedonic calculus, but there is little evidence that he used it in practice

Question 21

explain the weakness that in any teleological theory it becomes very difficult to ascertain whether you have performed a good action

Answer 21

e.g. if I save a child from drowning, but he grows up to be a terrorist, then was my action good or bad?

Kant argues that we should instead base moral decisions on principles. Then you know that you have only ever done the right thing, regardless of consequences

Question 22

why is happiness a good thing to make moral decisions on ?

Answer 22

because everyone wants to be happy and it is relatively easy to achieve. Everyone recognises happiness whereas people disagree over the obedience to the will of God for example (Bonhoeffer)

Question 23

what is a problem of making moral decisions based on happiness ?

Answer 23

there is a difference between goodness and happiness - some things which make us happy aren’t necessarily good.

However, singer points out that we should assume that Bentham means good I.e. what will bring about the most good