Utilitarianism

Bentham's Utilitarianism

Hedonic: Pursuit of pleasure

Telos: Goal/Aim

Teleological: Ends over means

Principle of Utility: Greatest balance of good over evil

Utility: Idea of 'usefulness' that we should do whatever is useful to increase good and decrease evil

Impartiality: We're objective and don't resolve ethical dilemmas by having favourites or personal bias

Secular: Doesn't resort to religion to justify an act

Consequentialism: Focuses on the consequences rather than the actions themselves

• Father of Utilitarianism
• Social Reformer
• Opposed slavery, death penalty, corporal punishment, mistreatment of animals

'Create all happiness you are able to create: remove all misery you are able to remove'

Hedonic Calculus: (Quantative)

• Intensity - How strong is the pleasure?
• Certainty - How likely?
• Fecundity - How probably are following pleasures?
• Duration - How long?
• Propinquity - How soon?
• Purity - How unlikely it'll lead to pain?
• Extent - How many people affected?

Issues with Calculus

• Argued that good was happiness and pleasure. 'Pleasure' and 'good' for him were interchangable. Controversial view, Plato argued against pleasure.
• Some pleasure can be bad, but Hedonism doesn't recognise this. 
• Aims to reduce ethical decision making to quantative calculations…