Utilitarianism

Question 1

what is utilitarianism (background )?

Answer 1

Modern utilitarianism grew up in a time of political upheaval under thinkers such as Hume, Hutcheson, Sidwick and Jeremy Bentham.
Utilitarianism supplied practical judgements in the real world of politics and dilemmas.
Late 18th and 19th century.

Question 2

Who was Jeremy Bentham?

Answer 2

Lived 1748-1832
Wrote on poor relief, international law, the decriminalisation of homosexuality, animal welfare and universal suffrage.
His thoughts are said to help shape public policy in America.

Question 3

what is the principle of utility?

Answer 3

greatest good by the greatest number

Question 4

what is classic Benthamite utilitarianism?

Answer 4

• He rejected religion, intuition or any abstract rules as a secure basis for ethics.

-His theory is based on psychology and believes that facts differ from values.

-Saw humans to be motivated by desires rather than reason

“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as to determine what we shall do.” (The Principle of Morals and Legislation, Bentham)

Pleasure is a unitary concept
Hedonic calculus is used to measure what will provide the greatest good.

Question 5

what is the hedonic calculus?

Answer 5

Intensity: max happiness or max unhappiness
Duration: how long will the pleasure last?
certainty: how sure are you that it will produce pleasure?
Propinquity: how soon will the happiness arrive?
Fecundity: is the pleasure gonna produce further pleasures?
Purity: will the pleasure lead to produce pains (eg sweets producing cavities)
Extent: number of people affected by the action.

Question 6

what are utilitarian moral judgments based on?

Answer 6

The idea that consequences matter
.
Minimising pain and maximising pleasure are and ought to be the sole goal of our actions.

Actions should aim for the greatest good for the greatest amount of people and each individual is to be counted equally.

Question 7

What is John Mill’s Qualitative attack on utilitarianism?

Answer 7

Not all pleasures and pains can be weighed using the hedonic calculus method.

If we are obliged in our every action to seek the greatest good of the greatest number, any luxury or personal enjoyment could be a cause of guilt.

Believed that aligning personal happiness with seeking the good of the greatest number proved elusive.

Believing that Bentham’s quantitative and unitary idea of pleasure/pain proved inadequate, instead, he distinguished between higher (intellectual) and lower (bodily) pleasures. “Human beings have faculties more elevated than the animal appetites… It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”.

Question 8

what is the hedonic paradox?

Answer 8

States that if you seek pleasure or happiness to achieve it for yourself, you will fail. Instead, you must pursue other goals that will bring you happiness or pleasure as a side effect.

Question 9

what is act utilitarianism (Bentham)?

Answer 9

taking each situation on its own merits, wishing only to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people involved. Works on a act-by-act basis.

Question 10

what is rule utilitarianism (Mill)?

Answer 10

higher utility is achieved when the whole population follows laws and customs aimed at maximising happiness and minimising pain

Question 11

strong rule utilitarians?

Answer 11

Strong rule utilitarians emphasise the utility of rules to the extent that they should be held to even where they cause inconvenience or even harm.

Question 12

weak rule utilitarians?

Answer 12

Weak rule utilitarians give more of a role to individual autonomy in moral decision-making; there is more willingness to modify or bend the rules when they cause harm.

Question 13

Mill on personal freedom?

Answer 13

belief that individuals should be free to pursue whatever serves their self-interest, so long as it doesn’t harm others. Mill argues that the greatest threats to individual liberty, and therefore society, are social and political tyranny.

Question 14

was Mill an act or rule utilitarian?

Answer 14

Mill was not a devotee of rules. Instead, he believed that the principle of utility provides us with the ultimate standard by which to judge all human conduct.

Question 15

Advantages of Bentham’s Act Utilitarianism

Answer 15

1) hedonistic: Empirically describes human nature: we have two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.
This is empirically true and doesn’t make unrealistic demands on us (e.g. Kant having to follow a rational duty).

2)Pragmatic: It isn’t legalistic (there is only one rule: to maximise happiness). It doesn’t judge other societies and cultures and so is suited to pluralistic societies.

3)consequentialist: Aims to produce a better world by seeking the best outcomes in every situation.

4)quantitative: It doesn’t judge pleasures. All pleasures have equal worth (i.e. he doesn’t say watching Shakespeare is worth more than watching The Simpsons). This makes it easier to calculate.

5) focuses on the individual act: Every act is considered, avoiding generalisations that can result in not maximising happiness/pleasure.

6)’greatest good’ over emotions: Emphasis on selflessness over gut reaction or emotion. It doesn’t allow self-interest to cloud our moral judgments

Question 16

Disadvantages of Bentham’s Act Utilitarianism

Answer 16

1)Hedonistic: It might be empirically justified but a. some people might actively seek pain b. we can’t get a value judged (what is good or bad/right or wrong) from a fact about how humans behave or the way the world is (Naturalistic fallacy).

2) Pragmatic: It can allow any action depending on the circumstances (e.g. the Happy Torturers)

3) consequentialist: cannot predict with certainty whether the consequences of our actions will be good or bad—the results of our actions happen in the future

Ultimately, consequentialism must come back to at least one non-consequential starting point. In answer to the question ‘What is a good outcome?’, the answer pleasure’ simply raises further questions, such as: What makes pleasure good as an end in itself?

4) quantitative: Not all pleasures are valuable for well-being.
For example, eating sweets can cause happiness at the moment but eventually, it can cause cavities pain; and overall bad health.

Utilitarianism moves from the is’, or supposedly factual, observation that everyone seeks their pleasure to the ought statement of saying that they ‘ought’ to seek pleasure. The action maximises pleasure, but is it right?

5) focuses on the individual act: it can be too morally demanding, and it is too difficult to predict the future unless modelling it on past outcomes/experiences which may not be the same.

6) principle of equality: the story of Omelas; utilitarianism commitments to impartiality, what happens to special relationships?

7) “greatest good” over emotions: utilitarianism objectionably instrumentalises people—treating us as mere means to the greater good, rather than properly valuing individuals as ends in themselves.

Question 17

what is the story of Omelas?

Answer 17

The story of The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas applies to the idea of Utilitarianism because one child is suffering so that the entire town can enjoy happiness and perfect lives. The child that sits in the small broom closet has barely enough room to move and is just getting by with enough food and water to survive.

The story is likely criticising how we erroneously believe that other people must suffer for our happiness—that somebody has to have the bad jobs for us to have the good jobs, that people have to do things that could be done by robots if we were willing to reallocate spending to give more opportunities to more people