Utilitarianism- Act

Question 1

Define act utilitarianism

Answer 1

The moral philosophy that holds that the sole criterion for judging the rightness or wrongness of an act is to which extent it maximises happiness.

• related to Bentham and Mill
• is a consequentialist, empirical, teleological theory

Question 2

Outline Bentham’s argument for hedonistic utilitarianism

Answer 2

Psychology hedonism- A psychological theory that claims that we seek pleasure and avoid pain

Hedonism- Seeking pleasure and avoiding pain is the right thing to do

Hedonistic utilitarianism- We should seek to promote pleasure and avoid pain of other people

-Bentham says do it for the general happiness not the individual.

Question 3

Explain Bentham’s method for calculating happiness

Answer 3

Hedonic calculus is a quantitative process in calculating happiness

Takes into account 7 different criteria’s that are able to calculate it.

• Intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity and extent.
• Issue: can’t put a numerical label on happiness

Question 4

Strengths of Bentham’s act utilitarianism

Answer 4

• Determined by context
• simple and clear; makes complicated decisions easy
• Intuitive and commonplace; often do take the general happiness into consideration anyway
• Egalitarian and impartial; each person counts

Question 5

Objections/ issues with act utilitarianism

Answer 5

• Liberty and rights; doesn’t take into account minorities rights
• Possible value of certain motives; may have bad intentions but there is a good outcome

Calculation; can’t put a numerical value on happiness

Relationships; doesn’t take into account relationships
Conflicts with moral intuition