Scribd
Upload
104 views21 pages

Utilitarian

Jeremy Bentham was an 18th century British philosopher who is considered the founder of utilitarianism. He developed a theory of ethics based on the principle that actions are right if they tend to promote happiness and wrong if they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Bentham believed pleasure and pain were the only things that were intrinsically good or bad, and he developed a "hedonistic calculus" to quantitatively measure pleasures and pains in order to determine the moral worth of actions. John Stuart Mill later refined utilitarianism, arguing it should be applied to general rules and moral codes rather than individual actions. Both Bentham and Mill's theories have been subject to significant critique regarding their practical application and implications

Uploaded by

lolito moises
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPS, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
104 views21 pages

Utilitarian

Jeremy Bentham was an 18th century British philosopher who is considered the founder of utilitarianism. He developed a theory of ethics based on the principle that actions are right if they tend to promote happiness and wrong if they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Bentham believed pleasure and pain were the only things that were intrinsically good or bad, and he developed a "hedonistic calculus" to quantitatively measure pleasures and pains in order to determine the moral worth of actions. John Stuart Mill later refined utilitarianism, arguing it should be applied to general rules and moral codes rather than individual actions. Both Bentham and Mill's theories have been subject to significant critique regarding their practical application and implications

Uploaded by

lolito moises
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPS, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 21

Jeremy

Bentham

J.S. Mill
Utilitarianism
The creed which accepts as the
foundation of morals, utility, or the
greatest happiness principle, holds
that actions are right in proportion
as they tend to promote happiness,
wrong as they tend to produce the
reverse of happiness. J.S.MILL
The utilitarian
principle:
Act to promote the greatest
good (happiness) for the
greatest number.
Benthams Act
Utilitarianism
Jeremy
Bentham
1748-1832
Philosopher of
ethics & political-
legal theory
Democrat,
reformer
Bentham=s project

Was to find an objective basis


for moral decision making.
He rejected notions of moral sense,
right reason, fitness of things
common in his day.
He found pleasure to be the only
objective good, and pain the only evil.
A Key Assumption:
Psychological Hedonism

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.
Jeremy Bentham
Benthams
Hedonistic Calculus:
Assumes that pleasures &
pains are quantifiable
Assumes pleasures are equal
Sets up a simple calculation
that reveals which actions are
the more morally worthy
We can calculate the merits of
any action according to criteria
1. Intensity
2. Duration
3. Certainty or uncertainty
4. Nearness or remoteness
5. Fecundity
6. Purity
7. Multiply 1-6 by number of affected
individuals.
The
Sum the values of all
the pleasures on the result:
one side and those of
the pains on the other.
The balance, if it be . . .
pleasure, will give the
good tendency of the
act . . . if on the side of
pain, the bad
tendency. J. Bentham
Questioning the
assumptions:
Quantity of pleasures being equal,
pushpin is as good as poetry. J. Bentham

But are pleasures really equal?

Is happiness really quantifiable?


Questioning the
implications
Is it too much to ask each individual
to calculate each act?
What is the ideal reach of the theory?
What does it require?
Does its premise (psychological
hedonism) undermine its ethical
principle?
Mills Rule Utilitarianism
John Stuart Mill
1806-1873
Used utilitarian
theory to promote
19th C. social reforms

Tries to correct
Benthams theory
From Act to Rule
There is no time, previous
to action, for calculating
and weighing the effects
of any line of conduct on
general happiness.
J. S. Mill
Rule Utilitarianism
Based on past experience &
knowledge, we can determine what
acts in general produce happiness
over unhappiness
apply the Utilitarian principle to
general rules, or moral codes as a
whole.
i.e. the Ten Commandments
Or the Bill of Rights
Pleasure Correction

All pleasures are not equal.


No intelligent being would
consent to be a fool. j. s. mill

Distinguishes base from


noble pleasures.
Advantages of
utilitarianism:
It recognizes the social context of
morality.
Best applies when large numbers are
affected by an action.
Highlights a common sense belief
about ethical behavior
Actions should promote positive
consequences.
Critique of utilitarianism
How can it be consistently applied?
Seems to sanction morally abhorrent
actions
Promotes a kind of cost-benefit
analysis
Ecological ethics, Business Ethics:
Modern slavery, Sale of Organs,
consumer protection
Does Utilitarianism ask
too much?
Issue of knowledge
How far into the future must we
calculate the consequences?
How accurate can our knowledge of
the future ever be?

An ambiguity: When am I moral?


When I intend to promote GH?
When I in fact promote GH?
Issue of Self-Sacrifice
Places the collective above the
individual

Asks us to subordinate individual


interests for the good of the whole

Do these facts undermine the core


values of individuality? Self reliance?
Autonomy? Independence?
Questions of Happiness
How is happiness to be defined?
A. By the individual?
This leads to relativism or
subjectivism.
B. By some objective standard?
This implies there is another standard
that grounds utilitarianism.

You might also like