?.? Utilitarianism

Question 2

Utilitarianism - Bentham’s key quote

Question 3

Utilitarianism - David Hume’s key quote

Answer 3

“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 what we shall do.” - Principles of morals and legislations, Hume, 2005

Question 4

Bentham - UCL?

Answer 4

• UCL’s ‘spiritual father’
• Bentham did not establish UCL (he was already 80 by the time UCL began) but he is considered as its spiritual father as he inspired many of the founders
• he strongly believed that education should be made more widely available, & not only to those who were wealthy and members of the established church, as was the case at the traditional universities, Oxford & Cambridge
• contextually, it is important to add that society was extremely unequal at this time i.e. being poor was inescapable, laws were unf

Answer 5

1. he was an outspoken advocate of law reform, a critic of established political doctrines like natural law and was the first to produce a utilitarian justification for democracy
2. he also had much to say on subjects as diverse as prison reform, religion, poor relief, international law, & animal welfare
3. a visionary far ahead of his time, he advocated for universal suffrage & the decriminalisation of homosexuality
4. he discovered the phrase “greatest good for the greatest number” in J.B. Priestley’s essay on government
5. his ideas were greatly used to influence the reforms of public administration
6. Bentham was

Answer 6

• Bentham was motivated by the desire to establish a universal theory that could be applied to all ethical situations
• his influence in 18th century society and beyond was considerable as he sought a theory of ethics that would iron out the deep inequalities of his time

Answer 7

Bentham argued in favour of individual & economic freedom, including:
- separation of church & state
- freedom of expression
- equal rights for women
- animal rights
- abolition of slavery
- abolition of physical punishment (including that of children)
- the right to divorce
- free trade
- the decriminalisation of homosexuality

Answer 8

Bentham

Answer 9

1. his views about what drove/motivated all human beings to be good or bad
2. the principle of utility -> pleasure produces a feeling of happiness: it is used interchangeably in the utility principle
3. the hedonic calculus

NOTE: these are key features to fulfil the AO1 in an exam

Answer 10

Utilitarianism is teleological & consequentialist as it is concerned with the outcome or consequences of an action

Answer 11

• human beings are motivated by pleasure & pain: he is thus a hedonist
• all humans pursue pleasure & seek to avoid pain
• this is a moral fact because pleasure & pain identify what is a good or bad action

Question 12

Apply the utility principle

Answer 13

INTENSITY
DURATION
CERTAINTY
PROPINQUITY (closeness)
FECUNDITY (productiveness)
PURITY
EXTENT

Answer 14

• Bentham’s godson
• Mill believed that quality was more important than quantity when it came to pleasure
• e.g. the pleasures of the mind are far superior to the gratification of the body’s desires
• this deals with the problem of sadistic torturers, as their pleasure is of a significantly lower kind

Answer 15

• son of James Mill who was Bentham’s colleague
• made to study Greek aged 3
• studied Aristotle at 13
• suffered a nervous breakdown aged 20: this led him to reassess Bentham’s theory on which he was brought up; the breakdown left him with no enthusiasm for the things he thought were good to pursue
• believed

Answer 16

• “He never knew poverty and adversity…”

Answer 17

Mill believed that pleasure was qualitative, not quantitative (measurable)

Answer 18

“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”

• ‘it is better to feel a constant, sometimes unpleasant, need for knowledge than to constantly indulge yourself, to the expense of those around you by not actively contributing’

Answer 19

• although Mill remained committed to the progress of society through improving society, he saw a fundamental error in Bentham’s theory
• Bentham’s notion of pleasure failed to recognise the deeper levels of human experience
• Mill was convinced that feelings other than happiness were necessary for the good life - eudiamonia - such as honour, dignity & generosity
• Mill argued that some ideals, such as justice, truth & love, were good whether or not people desired them or were made happy by them
• once physical needs are satisfied, surely someone would prefer a higher to a lower pleasure
• once acquainted with both kinds - surely - people would choose quality of happiness over quantity
• “Happiness is too complex & indefinite” to be the measure of the moral worth of an action .. is the hedonic calculus even useful now?
• Happiness is a very unspecific term that can cover a range of satisfaction: it is not locatable or identifiable; it then becomes a fragile tool to use within this theory
• humans have worked out through trial & error the actions that lead best to human happiness

Answer 20

• Mill suggested that human beings have worked out through trial & error the actions that best lead to human happiness
• this is then promoted through what he called ‘secondary principles’ or moral rules i.e. ‘do not lie’, ‘protect the