Utilitarianism (1st ethical theory)

Question 1

Who developed the utilitarianism theory?

Answer 1

Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill

Question 2

What is utilitarianism?

Answer 2

an action that is morally right if it results in the greatest amount of net good for the greatest number of people. Also known as ‘greatest happiness principle’ premised upon collective welfare, based on cost benefit analysis and utility.

Question 3

What is the characteristic consequentialism?

Answer 3

Measurement of the consequences of an action which determines if its ethically correct, a teleological theory

Question 4

What is the characteristic hedonism?

Answer 4

utility is defined by pleasure and the absence of pain only pleasure is ultimately good, but amount of pain can be deducted from the amount of pleasure and yield, ‘net pleasure’

Question 5

What is the characteristic maximalism?

Answer 5

a right action doesn’t only have some good consequences, but the greatest possible amount when bad consequences are considered - maximising amount of good

Question 6

What is the characteristic universalism?

Answer 6

consequences for everyone need to be considered and equal weight is given to all concerned, everyone is treated equally/considered

Question 7

What are the different ways to measure utility?

Answer 7

1. Intensity - how strong the pleasure/pain is
2. Duration - how long it lasts
3. Proximity - how close feeling is to action
4. Fecundity - how likely it will lead to other pleasure/pains
5. Purity - how mixed the feelings are with other feelings

Question 8

What is utilitarianism use in a cost benefit analysis?

Answer 8

systematic approach which can assign monetary values to predicted outcomes

Question 9

What is utilitarianism use in a social/environmental impact assessment?

Answer 9

considers the social/environmental effects of a project

Question 10

What are the challenges to utilitarianism?

Answer 10

• Subjectivity - do we always know what’s best for others, who should be included in the analysis, Singer argues that animals should be given equal consideration to humans.
• Equal Weighting - no exclusion/prioritisation, we equal responsibility for strangers as those close to us.
• Problems of quantification and calculation-cost benefit analysis requires us to put a monetary value on life? It time consuming to do for every decision
• Distribution of utility - by assessing the greatest good for the greatest number, minorities may be overlooked

Question 11

What is act utilitarianism?

Answer 11

looks to single actions and bases moral judgement on the amount of pleasure and the amount of pain this single action causes - weighing up costs and benefits.

Question 12

What is rules utilitarianism?

Answer 12

looks at classes of action and asks whether the underlying principles of an action produce more pleasure than pain for society in the long run.

Question 13

What is the common view on utilitarianism?

Answer 13

it represents that ethically right acts are those that produce the greatest good for the greatest number - distributive formula

Question 14

What does Bentham say on utilitarianism?

Answer 14

He says utilitarianism is maximised when one act is ethically preferable to another by producing a greater proportion of pleasure to pain, even if the second act produces almost as favourable as proportion and does some good for a large number of people

Question 15

What does Mill say on utilitarianism?

Answer 15

says that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness

Question 16

What did G.E Moore say on utilitarianism?

Answer 16

he said utilitarianism can be said to judge the moral status of an act by the overall value of its consequences as opposed to its intense nature such as a lie or being virtuous or befitting the dignity of persons, can utilitarianism be distributive.
It can be but it is derivatively, some may claim that in the greatest good for the greatest number formulation it is essentially distributive, but there are at least two reasons to resist this

Question 17

What are the two reasons to resist that its distributive?

Answer 17

1. Glosses over the ambiguity of the formulation and gives the impression that utilitarianism itself provides a way to solve the problems we have seen such as trade-off problems.
2. Calling utilitarianism distributive at all is likely to cause confusion it it is not accompanied by the kind of contrast drawn between utilitarian views actual defended by the proponents of the position and the distributive readings of the greatest good for greatest number formulation/