UTILITARIANISM Flashcards
(36 cards)
Who created act utilitarianism?
Bentham
What did Bentham believe about democracy?
That everyone within society counts equally and that all people have an equal right to happiness.
According to Bentham, how do we know if an action is right?
If it produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
What is the Principle of Utility?
The rightness or wrongness of a situation is determined by its usefulness or ‘utility’.
Is Bentham’s act utilitarianism qualitative or quantitative?
Quantitative.
What is the hedonic calculus? Why did Bentham create it?
Calculating the benefit or harm of an act through its consequences.
Bentham wanted to use reason to help determine right and wrong.
What are the 7 things does the hedonic calculus measures happiness by?
- Intensity
- Duration
- Certainty
- Remoteness
- To be followed
- Purity
- Extent
PREDICT
How can happiness be measured quantitatively?
If more people gain pleasure then pain through a certain act, then the act is permissible and ought to be pursued according to Bentham.
Who created rule utilitarianism?
John Stuart Mill.
What did Mill strongly advocate for?
Freedom/liberty. He strongly opposed legislation that restricted what an individual could or could not.
How did Mill measure pleasure?
Qualitatively.
What are higher and lower pleasures?
Higher = pleasures of the mind. Lower = pleasures of the body.
What did Mill believe we need rules for?
We need rules/principles that serve to maximise happiness and minimise unhappiness.
What is Mill’s principle of universalisability?
What is right or wrong for one person in a situation is right or wrong for all.
What is Mill’s harm principle?
When referring to the pressure which a majority can impose on a minority, he argued that this ought to be limited to prevent the harm of others.
Give a strength of utilitarianism generally.
It is straightforward and based on the single principle of maximising pleasure, goodness and happiness.
Give a strength of Bentham’s act utilitarianism.
Has the benefit of flexibility, being able to take into account individual situations.
Give a strength of Mill’s rule utilitarianism.
Being qualitative means it is not merely about the amount of pleasure and pain.
Give a weakness of utilitarianism generally.
It is impossible to seek your own happiness and do what you ought to do.
Give a weakness of Bentham’s act utilitarianism.
Bentham’s act Utilitarianism has the potential to virtually justify any act, if in that particular case, the result generates the most happiness.
Give a weakness of Mill’s rule utilitarianism.
What about when some of these rules need to be broken?
Strengths of using utility principle as a measure of good, bad, right or wrong… (give two)
- A practical approach with observable/measurable outcomes.
- It allows rules to be set aside so that you can carry out correct action.
Problems with using utility principle as a measure of good, bad, right or wrong… (give two)
- Minority may be treated unjustly - they have rights.
- Impersonal - goes against personal integrity and our moral sense. Too subjective.
What did Bentham write about the principle of utility?
“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.”
