Utilitarianism Revision


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  • Utilitarianism Shauna's Revision
    • Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
      • Hedonic Calculus
        • Propinquity : How remote/near or far is it
        • Certainty: How certain or uncertain  (probable) is it?
        • Duration: How long does it/ will it last?
        • Fecundity : Will it lead to further pleasure?
        • Intensity: How intense or deep is it?
        • A Utilitarian system which is used to measure the amount of utility an action will bring about in a quantitative way.
        • Extent : How universal/ wide are the effects
        • Bentham's method for measuring good and bad effects of an action
        • egalitarian and democratic.
          • "Everybody is to count for one, and nobody for more than one"
        • forBentham, any animal, human or non-human, that can feel pleasure or pain should beincluded in our measurement of the consequences.
        • Purity: How free from pain is it?
      • Quotes from Bentham
        • "Everybody is to count for one, and nobody for more than one"
        • "The game of push-pin is of equal value with the arts and sciences of music and poetry. If the game of push pin furnishes more pleasure, it is more valuable than either"
        • "An action is good if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people"
          • "Always act in a way to maximise pleasure and minimise pain
        • The good is that which will bring about the greatest sum of pleasure, or the least sum of pain, for the greatest number.”
        • "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.
        • "The principle of utility aims to promote happiness which is the supreme ethical value."
      • Based the ethical system around the idea of pleasure and pain - based on ancient hedonism
      • Believe the most morally correct are the ones that maximise pleasure and minimise pain. Sometimes called the 'Utilitarian calculus'
      • Argued we should be lead by the principle of Utility and not by rules
        • May be necessary to use rules based on past experiences if there is no time to work out the consequence
      • Believed that abstract inalienable rights, such as those found in Natural Law was “nonsense on stilts.”
      • Believed happiness = pleasure minus pain.
      • Was a pioneer of social reform
      • All types of pleasure and pain can be measured onthe same scale.
        • "The game of push-pin is of equal value with the arts and sciences of music and poetry. If the game of push pin furnishes more pleasure, it is more valuable than either"
      • Focused on the individual rathe than the mass
    • Hedonistic theory
      • The idea that 'good' is defined in terms of pleasure and happiness
      • Epicureans stressed that pleasure is the main aim of life
        • Whereas philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle agreed that 'good' equated with the greatest happiness
      • Actions are judged as a means to an end
    • Utility
      • Principle of utility
        • seeking the greatest balance of good over evil, orpleasure over pain.)
        • The principle of utility is often expressed as ‘the greatest good of the greatestnumber’.
          • seeking the greatest balance of good over evil, orpleasure over pain.)
        • Foundation for the Principle of Utility is Bentham’s Psychological hedonism:  Pleasure and pain determine how people act.
    • Rule Utilitarianism
      • John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
        • Mill agrees with Bentham that the ‘one fundamental principle…at the root of all morality’ is the utility principle
        • Qualitive
          • Mill believes that quality of pleasure employs the use of higher facilities
          • Here he answers Bentham's objection that Utilitarian's are just pleasure-seekers
            • Romans enjoyed watching Christians being eaten by lion - greatest happiness from the Romans is produced by the act of Christians being eaten is surely wrong
              • Mill says the quality of pleasure that satisfies a human is different from what satisfies an animal. Claims it takes more to pleasure a human - so they will choose higher pleasures
          • Higher pleasures count more than lower ones
          • Happiness is something people desire for its own sake - happiness isn't just adding up units of pleasure but the fulfilment of higher ideals
        • Higher and Lower pleasures
          • Higher pleasures
            • intellectual and social - things that only human beings are able to experience
            • NOT ALL PLEASURES ARE OF EQUAL VALUE
          • Lower pleasures
            • they are physical pleasures. less intellectual
            • Lower qualities associated with animals. eg, drinking, eating, sleeping, sex
            • Those who lack intelligence and character choose bodily pleasures
            • NOT ALL PLEASURES ARE OF EQUAL VALUE
        • Quotes from John Stuart Mill
          • “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.
            • By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure”.
              • by ‘happiness’ Mill intends us to understand he means‘pleasure’
          • "humans faculties more elevated that animal appetites, once conscience of them, they dont regard anything as pleasure that doesnt involve them"
            • intellectual and social - things that only human beings are able to experience
            • "it is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied, better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied"
          • "Some kinds of pleasures are more desirable and more valuable than others.. quality is not also considered as well as quality
            • Each person's happiness is a good to that person, and general happiness, therefore, is a good to aggrege of all persons
            • “Your liberty to swing your arm endswhere my nose begins.”
          • Also was a hedonist
          • Accepted that happiness is of the greatest importance. Outlook was much like Aristotle's beliefs of Eudaimonia
          • Wanted to focus on the common good
        • Deontological
        • Consequential
        • There needs to be some moral rules in order to establish social order and justice
        • Qualitive
        • Universalist
        • WEAKNESSES OF RULE
          • No defence for minorites
          • Difficult to say what is happiness
          • Deontological rather then teleological
          • Relative - what is right and wrong and how is it established as to what brings about the most happiness for a community
          • Difficult to predict consequences
          • Followers are either very strict rule followers or they are rule modifiers.
            • Strict rule followers can be irrational: obeying rules even when disobeying will being about more happiness
            • Rule modifiers are glorified Act Utilitarian's essentially
        • Other Rule utilitarians
          • Richard Brandt    (1910-1997)
          • James Urmson (1915 -present)
          • John Austin (1790–1859),
          • Toulmin  (1922-2009)
        • Rules should be formulated first,based on utilitarian principles. The individualcan then [use the rules to] judge whetherspecific acts are acceptable.
        • Strong Rule Utilitarianism is the view that utilitarian rules must never be broken, even if it seems that they will lead to unhappiness –overall, in the long term, more happiness will be gained by keeping the rule than breaking it.
        • Weak Rule Utilitarianism is the view that the utilitarian rules should be considered, but if it can be shown that in a particular case more happiness would be achieved by breaking it, then it can be broken.
      • Preference Utilitarianism
        • Peter Singer (1946-present)
          • Suggests we should all take the view of an impartial spectator combined with a broadly utilitarian view in order to weigh up the greatest balance of good
          • Quotes from Peter Singer
            • 'Our own preferences cannot count any more than the preferences of others'
            • "An action  contrary to the preference of any being is, unless outweighed by contrary preferences, wrong. Killing a person who prefers to continue living is therefore wrong, other things being equal
          • Two tiers of moral relevance
            • Higher tier
              • Humans who have desires and goals for the future - have a sense of biography. Also higher order primates like chimps
            • Lower tier
              • Humans who have no sense of self through time - eg the severally handicapped. Also animals such as chickens
          • Uses an example of sharing fruit - everyone is entitled to an equal share. These have to be weighted and balenced and then we must choose the bestpossible consequence for those involved.
        • Argues people should  be allowed to pursue their preference as long as it does not interfere with other peoples pursuit of happiness
          • Moral actions are right or wrong according to how they fit the preferences of those involved
        • R.M Hare
          • Says we need to consider our own preferences and those of others
          • Quotes from R.M Hare
            • Equal preferences count equally, whatever their content'
            • Says we need to 'stand in someone else's shoes
          • Treat everyone equally , including ourselves, with impartiality - also argues for universability
        • Eudemonistic
        • Consequentialist
        • Universalistic
      • Dilemmas used for Utilitarianism
        • Abortion
        • Trolley problem
        • Jim and the indians
        • The Euthanasia problem
        • Concentration camp
          • Woman getting problem to get out with guard
          • Missing shovel
        • Mothers Dilemma
      • Critics
        • Alasdair MacIntyre criticises utilitarianism as possibly justifying horrendous acts for the pleasure of the many.
        • Peter Vardy says this is how most people view Mill. Others describe him as a 'weak' Rule Utilitarian, 'Hard' Rule Utilitarians would disagree with breaking a rule even if doing so led to the greater good. Many criticise 'weak' Rule Utilitarians, saying that this is effectively the same as Act Utilitarianism.
        • W. D. Ross refers to utilitarianism as "a single factor theory". By this he is criticising its narrow, one-track nature as explained above.
        • Bernard Williams argues that utilitarianism denies us of moral integrity
        • Louis Pojman (ethical egoist) argues that utilitarianism employs an idealised view of justice. He gives the example of a doctor who has five patients who are all in desperate need of different organs, otherwise they will die. A healthy man walks into the hospital for a check-up. Pojman argues that it in theory Utilitarians would kill the healthy man to allow the five men to survive. In reality, however, this offers a remarkably "cavalier attitude to justice"
        • Anscombe says that "Bentham and Mill don't notice the difficulty of the concept of pleasure.”
    • Act Utilitarianism
      • A Teleological consequential-ist theory that uses the outcome of an action to determine whether it is good or bag
      • Eudemonistic
      • consequentialist
      • Measurable and Quantitive
      • WEAKNESSES OF ACT
        • There is potential to justify any act even the holocaust
        • Difficult to define pleasure
        • Difficult to predict consequences
        • Relative - no notion of absolute right and wrong and no external source of what is truth
        • No defence for the minorities
        • Impractical to say you should calculate every choice
        • Consequential- the consequence decides whether it is right or wrong - but what if the intentions are malicious even if something good happens
      • Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900)
        • Argues the balance of pain over pleasure
        • His argument is closer to the one of Bentham than Mills
        • Argues the process of deciding is intuitive - we make self evident judgments of what to do
        • Justice
          • Concerned with justice in society and had a positive view of human nature.
          • An issue of  saying we must act in accordance to the law can cause problems as which laws are just?
        • Quotes from Henry Sidgwick
          • "whatever action any of us judges to be right for himself, he implicitly judges to be right for all persons in similar circumstances'
      • Act it is the value of the consequences of theparticular act that counts when determining whether theact is right.

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