Came up with the principle of utility, he saw that humans tried to find pleasure and avoid pain, he believed that pleasure was the sole good and pain was the soul evil
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The Principle of Utility
the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness, this is the amount of pleasure caused by the action, 'an action is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number'
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The Hedonic Calculus
weighs up the pain and pleasure generated by the available moral actions to find the best option, considers 7 factors
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John Stuart Mill
developed Bentham's theory, he thought Bentham's 'greatest good for the greatest number' was quantitative, he focused on qualitative pleasures, the pleasures of the mind are greater than pleasures of the body
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Act Utilitarianism
the principle of utility must be directly applied to every individual situation, GREATEST HAPPINESS must be the final result even if the law has to be broken, developed by Bentham, flexible as it takes into account individual situations
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Criticisms of Act Utilitarianism
it can justify any act potentially if the result generates the most happiness, it is impractical to measure every moral choice every time a decision needs to be made, it can have extreme results
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Rule Utilitarianism
focuses on general rules that everyone should follow to bring the GREATEST GOOD for the majority of people, associated with John Stuart Mill, you must obey the rule in each particular situation.
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Criticisms of Rule Utilitarianism
sometimes following the rule may not bring about the greatest good, you may still be able to perform acts that appear morally unacceptable, the minorities interests may not be protected.
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Evaluation of Utilitarianism - positive
it is reasonable to link morality with the pursuit of happiness and the avoidance of pain and misery, it is natural to consider the consequences of an action when deciding what to do
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Evaluation of Utilitarianism - positive
offers democratic morality that promotes general happiness and opposes individual pursuits, common sense system
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Evaluation of Utilitarianism - negative
relies on knowledge of consequences you don't know what these will be, difficult to quantify pleasure
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Evaluation of Utilitarianism - negative
some pain is good and some pleasure may be bad, utilitarianism doesn't set out how the pleasures are distributed
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness, this is the amount of pleasure caused by the action, 'an action is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number'
Back
The Principle of Utility
Card 3
Front
weighs up the pain and pleasure generated by the available moral actions to find the best option, considers 7 factors
Back
Card 4
Front
developed Bentham's theory, he thought Bentham's 'greatest good for the greatest number' was quantitative, he focused on qualitative pleasures, the pleasures of the mind are greater than pleasures of the body
Back
Card 5
Front
the principle of utility must be directly applied to every individual situation, GREATEST HAPPINESS must be the final result even if the law has to be broken, developed by Bentham, flexible as it takes into account individual situations
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