Utilitarianism

Utility - property in an object that produces benefits, advantage, pleasure, good or happiness or to prevent the happening of mischief, pain, evil or unhappiness

Principle of utility - states an act is right if it maximises total pleasure and minimises pain for all concerned (greatest net utility)

Bentham's hedonic calculus - a method of working out the sum total of pleasure + pain produced by an act to work out total value of its consequences. Judges pains and pleasures on; intensity, duration, certainty, proximity, chance of being followed by others + number of people affected 

Act utilitarianism (Bentham) - the value of consequences of that particular act that counts when determining if act is right

Rule utilitarianism (Mill) - determines rightness of act by determining best rule of conduct where consequences of consequences are looked at

Mill's higher + lower pleasures - happiness should be measured by quality not quantity 

Hedonistic utilitarianism - assumes the rightness of an act depends on amount of pleasure

Non-hedonistic (preference) utilitarianism - satisfaction of preferences is intrinsically good + should be maximised

Consequentialism - an action is right if its total outcome is the best possible

Utility monster - Nozick's theory to describe someones who's sole aim is to maximise happiness, causing a scenario where everyone else's pleasure has to be sacrificed to him

Nozick's experience machine - thought experiment saying people wouldn't prefer just artificial pleasure

Tyranny of the majority - explores weakness of system where majority places its interests above minority

Two sovereign masters - pleasure and pain determine if act is right or wrong according to Bentham

Bentham - rights are granted by law + should be determined by principle of utility

Mill - an abstract right is a thing independent of utility, however humans have interests that need to be defended such as protection from harm + felt people couldn't be killed even if they caused unhappiness

Happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable, as an end. The only proof capable of being given that anything is desirable, is that people actually desire it. This, however, being a fact, we have all the proof which is possible to require, that happens is a good: that each person's happiness is a good to that person, and that general happiness, therefore, a good to all persons

Criticisms:

• utilitarianism moves from the psychological claim that people seek pleasure/happiness to the moral claim that maximising pleasure is good - not justified
• desirable is used in different ways as desirable means what ought to be desired
• the is-ought gap because Mill starts by discussing what is the case + then concludes what ought to be the case
• G.E. Moore claims the terms 'good' is indefinable + can't be equated to a property in the natural world - naturalistic fallacy
• Bertrand Russel feels happiness is personal and cant be general for all, like saying that because every person has a mother, the species as a whole should have a mother

Most people want to take the consequences of their actions into place

It is democratic + egalitarian as everyone counts equally

Impartial

Pragmatic + useful in dealing with real moral dilemmas where there might not be an ideal choice but 'lesser of two evils'

Takes the fact that we are part of society and makes decisions in that context

Acknowledges the effects that our decisions not to act have on others

Doesn't depend on any metaphysical system - humanistic

Avoids having to make complex calculations in order to make a moral decision

Takes moral intuitions into account whilst considering consequences

Not such a demanding act

Doesn't take into account relationship between intention + action

May allow people to do immoral things e.g. torture - sets aside rights of individual for society

Individual needs sacrificed

Aristotle suggests pleasure doesn't have one meaning so can't be compared 

Two actions could be equal so cannot choose between them

According to Bentham rights under threat e.g. freedom of speech

Act utilitarianism is too demanding + we cant predict the consequences of act through lack of time

Too impersonal

Mill cannot justify why higher pleasures are better than lower pressures

Would allow extreme pain of few to serve masses e.g. Christians fed to lions for entertainment