Utlitarianism

Did Batman make the morally right choice?

Utilitarianism

The morally right action is the one that produces the most good.

Jeremy Bentham1748-1832

Pleasure Painv(Maximize) (Minimize)

Pain PleasurePleasurePain

Greatest Happiness Principle:

An action is right in so far as it promotes the greatest happiness of the

greatest number of those affected.

How do we measure the value of a life?

Cost – Benefit Analysis

Are pleasure and pain on a single sliding scale?

Or are there different kinds of pleasures?

“The game of pushpin is of equal value with the arts and sciences of music and poetry. If the game furnishes more pleasure, it is more valuable.”

-Bentham

Higher and Lower pleasures?

Listening to Mozart

Brushing your teeth

Listening to Lil Wayne

Eating a doughnut

Drinking wine

Watching a Shakespeare play

Going to a club

Going to a museum

Playing the flute

Paying bills

Watching “Jersey Shore”

Going to the gym

Akrasia:

When we know something is bad for us and we do it anyway.

Is happiness/avoiding pain the most important quality

in life?

Or should we judge ethical matters by another means?

• The Queen vs. Dudley and Stephens 1884

The Trolley Problem

Railroad Tracks

People

80% of the general population would change the tracks

68% of Professional Philosophers would change the tracks.

The Bystander Problem

Responsibility

The Milgram Experiment

The Bridge and the Large Man

Killing, letting die, and saving?

The Transplant Problem

The Ticking Time Bomband Torture

•The NSA

•Stop and Frisk

1. Transferring all value into a single metric.

2. The Problem of Individual or Minority Rights.

3. Knowing the real consequences of our actions

Critiques of Utilitarianism

When RPTJ is interfered with

• When we think about a person’s intentions, then the consequences of their action becomes less important.

• Why is it is worse to intentionally run someone over than it is to accidently run someone over? The consequences are the same: i.e. the person has been run over.