Utility & Utilitarianism

UTILITY & UTILITARIANISM

Utilitarianism

What is Utilitarianism ? “Actions are right in proportion as they

tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." (John Stuart Mill's Greatest Happiness Principle)

In other words, judge an action by the total amount of happiness and unhappiness it creates

Examples

Say there is a train coming toward a group of 5 people tied to the tracks

you're standing by the lever to make the train go onto a different path that is heading towards yourself.

Examples

A utilitarian would pull the lever to make the train head in his/her direction. Killing one person creates a greater amount of good than killing 5 people.

Examples

A large group of people is stuck in a cave because a fat man (no put down intended) is stuck in the only exit of this cave.

The only way to free themselves would to dynamite their way out, therefore sacrificing the fat man. Otherwise they will all die.

BOOM

Theory 1:Teleological Theories Defining characteristics

moral goodness is dependent upon non moral values

justification of actions based on ends: “ends justify the means”

greatest balance of good over evil

Example

Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings on President Truman’s orders in 1945 during World War II

Action:

Consequences:1. Two populous Japanese cities destroyed

2. 200,000 Japanese civilians killed3. Japan Surrendered4. This Option was better as it avoided the

land Invasion of Japan which had an estimated death toll of 1 million.

Strengths compatible with our own moral reasoning

(all done to promote oneself) a prudential morality based on the

assumption that others will take advantage human nature to be self-interested

(psychological egoism)

Weaknesses an ethical theory must be ‘universalized’ --

able to be adopted by others human experience shows that we have a

wide variety of motivations including doing things for others for its own sake

Theory 2:Deontological Ethics Actions or rules are valuable in themselves without any

appeal to consequences Rule deontological theories are very conducive to ‘role’

morality: duties and obligations Duties are self-evidently true

lying, bribery, respect for others

Example - The Lockheed case in Japan.

Example – Ross’s System

Duties of Fidelity – To keep promises. Duties of Reparation – To compensate people for

injury that we wrongfully inflict on them. Duties of Gratitude – To return favors that others do

for us. Duties of Justice – To ensure that goods are

distributed according to the merits of the individuals. Duties of Beneficence – To improve conditions of

others. Duties of Self-Improvement – Self-Improvisation with

respect to virtue and intelligence. Duties of Non-Maleficence – Avoiding injury to others.

Strengths intuitively, many of the duties are plausible focuses on the treatment of individuals

Weaknesses difficult to determine ‘rightness’ prioritizing rules when in conflict is

problematic

Classical Utilitarianism

A.Jeremy Bentham(1748-

1832)

B.John Stuart Mill(1806-1873)

Jeremy Bentham’s version

Defining Characteristics

1. This principle approves or disapproves of every action on the basis whether the action has a tendency to:-

1. Augment or increase2. Diminish or decrease

the happiness of the party whose interest is in question.

ACTIONS

Consequences

Tendency ?

Increase happiness

Decrease happiness

Action approve

d

Action disapprov

ed

The Hedonistic calculus

Bentham assumed that a precise quantitative measurement of pleasure and pain was possible and outlined a procedure that he called hedonistic calculus. It states that :-

Reaction to Hedonism

Critics at that time complained that pleasure is too low to constitute the good for human beings and pointed out that even pigs are capable of pleasure, which led to the charge that utilitarianism is a “PIG PHILOSOPHY”.

John Stuart Mill’s version

He developed a more defensible version of utilitarian position :-

“actions are right in proportion as

they tend to promote happiness , wrong as they tend to produce reverse of happiness.”

John Stuart Mill’s version

John Stuart Mill’s version

TV Viewer Pie Chart

% of ppl pre-ferring trashy TV shows% of ppl pre-ferring fine dramas

Mill departed from Bentham’s strict quantitative treatment of pleasure by introducing the idea that pleasures also differ in quality. However Mill’s insight does not succeed in saving the thesis of hedonism or the utilitarian principle that we ought to produce the greatest possible amount of pleasure . For example

John Stuart Mill’s version

Mill departed from Bentham’s strict quantitative treatment of pleasure by introducing the idea that pleasures also differ in quality. However Mill’s insight does not succeed in saving the thesis of hedonism or the utilitarian principle that we ought to produce the greatest possible amount of pleasure . For example

OH GOD!! No more of Ekta Kapoor daily

soaps

A Utilitarian Decision maker

Other Forms Of Utilitarianism

The utilitarian principle involves 4 distinct theses :-

I. Maximalism : a right action is one that has not merely some good consequences , but also the greatest amount of good consequences possible when the bad consequences are also taken into consideration.

II.Universalism : the consequences to be considered are those of everyone.

“It states that an action is right if and only if it produces the greatest balance of pleasure over pain for everyone.”

Act Utilitarianism

The Case of Lockheed , 1972 , Japan

Carl Kotchian ,then president of Lockheed had to offer $12.5 million in bribes and commissions to sell 21 tristar planes in Japan

Action :

Thousands of jobs were

saved

Stock Holders were saved

Rule Utilitarianism

“It states that an action is right if and only if it conforms to a set of rules the general acceptance of which would produce the greatest balance of pleasure over pain for everyone. In it the consequence of following the relevant rule is considered. “

Example of Rule Utilitarianism

Examples:-

1.Working hard for examinations2.Always stopping when traffic

signal is red3.Wearing a helmet while driving4.Recycling waste