Title · Web viewDoes Mill’s utilitarianism have problems of its own? Strengths of Mill’s Rule Utilitarianism We do generally agree that happiness is good and that suffering is

A Level Religious StudiesEthics Topic 2.1- Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory. This means it is a theory that attempts to explain which actions are right and wrong, and to give us a method of working out how we should behave.

Key Concepts:

Teleology

We can split ethical theories into two groups:

Deontological theories claim that it is something about an action itself which makes it right or wrong. Another way of saying this is that actions are intrinsically right or wrong. This means that deontological theories can easily give us rules about which actions are right or wrong.

Teleological theories claim that actions themselves are neither right nor wrong, but that they are right or wrong in particular situations, depending on their consequences. For the teleologist, if an action has good consequences then it is a right action, and if it has bad consequences it is a wrong action.

Hedonism

Utilitarianism is based on an idea known as hedonism, which claims that the only thing that is intrinsically good is pleasure and the only thing that is intrinsically bad is pain.

“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.” (Jeremy Bentham)

The Principle of Utility

The word utility literally means “usefulness”. But what Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, meant by it is more like our idea of “pleasure” or “happiness”.

He based his theory on the Principle of Utility, which states that:

The right thing to do in any situation is whatever will result in “the greatest good for the greatest number”.

Because Bentham is a hedonist, “the greatest good” means the most pleasure/ least pain.

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Act Utilitarianism

Bentham’s method of making ethical decisions is also known as Act Utilitarianism, because you have to make this calculation for each act that you ever want to do.

But how do we measure the balance of pleasure over pain that will result from an action?

The Hedonic Calculus

In order to measure the pleasure and pain resulting from our actions, Bentham gives us a formula known as The Hedonic Calculus. For each possible consequence of our action, we should consider each of the following criteria:

Duration – how long will it last?Remoteness – how far removed from the action is it?Intensity – how strongly felt is it?Certainty – how certain is it to happen?Extent – how many people does it affect?Purity – how free from pain is the pleasure? (or vice versa)Succession – how likely is it that this pleasure will cause future pleasures?

Using the Hedonic Calculus, Bentham says that we can add up the units of pleasure (hedons) that will be caused by our action.

For example, a pleasurable consequence that would score highly for duration might be something that makes you happy for years to come, like being in a relationship. One that would have a short duration might be eating a chocolate cake.

A pleasurable consequence that is immediate might be eating cake, because I experience the pleasure as soon as I do the action. But the pleasure that

results from studying hard at college is quite remote, because you are doing the action now, but the pleasurable consequence will only come on results day.

A pleasure of low intensity might be seeing that it’s sunny outside, or the traffic lights being green as you approach them. They do cause pleasure, but only a weak form of pleasure (sort of “Oh, that’s good”). A high intensity pleasure might be winning the lottery (or something else that would make you literally jump with joy).

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Task Think of examples of possible consequences that would score highly and poorly on each of the other criteria:

Low Certainty-

High Certainty-

Low Extent-

High Extent-

Low Purity-

High Purity –

Low chance of Succession-

High chance of Succession-

HW TaskThink of painful consequences that would score highly and poorly for each of the criteria.

Calculating the right action

So, in order to work out which is the right action out of possible actions A, B and C, first we need to know what all their consequences will be. Then we apply the Hedonic Calculus to those consequences to calculate the amounts of pleasure and pain caused. Finally, we need to subtract the pain from the pleasure to see which action causes the greatest balance of pleasure over pain. Look at this example:

Action A Action B Action C

50 units of pleasure 100 units of pleasure 46 units of pleasure

5 units of pain 100 units of pain 0 units of pain

Total: 45 hedons Total: 0 hedons Total: 46 hedons

This example shows that the right thing to do is not necessarily the one that causes the most pleasure. Action B causes the most pleasure, but it also causes a lot of pain. Action C causes the least amount of pleasure, but it avoids any pain, so overall, it causes the best balance of pleasure over pain and is therefore the right thing to do.

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Egalitarianism

The word “egalitarianism” just means “equality”. Act Utilitarianism is an egalitarian theory because Bentham famously said that when calculating which the right action is:

“Each is to count for one, and none for more than one”

This means that the happiness or unhappiness of any one person should count for exactly the same amount as anybody else’s. So, it could be that the action we have to do is one that causes us a considerable amount of pain, but that increases pleasure for others. The people who benefit could even be enemies of ours.

Tasks:

1 Think of examples of situations in which you would agree with Bentham about what is the right thing to do, and situations where you would disagree.

2 Read “The ones who walk away from Omelas” by Ursula LeGuin. What problems does this highlight with Bentham’s theory?

3 Read Robert Nozick’s example of the “Experience Machine”. Would you plug in? Why/why not? What problems does this highlight with Bentham’s theory?

4 Learn the seven criteria of the Hedonic Calculus and make sure you can explain what they mean.

Strengths of Bentham’s Act Utilitarianism

1. We do generally agree that happiness is good and that suffering is bad. So it fits with our moral intuitions.

2. It is egalitarian, so everyone is considered.

3. It is teleological, so it always gives us the best outcome.

4. It encourages altruism (putting others before ourselves).

5. It tries to give a reliable method for making ethical decisions, that anyone can follow and come to the right answer.

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Problems with Bentham’s Act Utilitarianism

1. It is impossible to apply, because:

We can’t predict the future. We can’t read other people’s minds to tell what

causes them pleasure or pain. Even if we could do these things, we can’t do them

infinitely.

2. It is based on hedonism

Look at Nozick’s example of the experience machine.

3. Minorities can be abused:

Chuck Colson of the Christian Institute on Disability says:“When society wants utilitarian ethics, people on the margins get lost”

Look back at the story of Omelas

4. It overlooks important ethical values, such as:

Promises Special relationships Justice

TaskDo you think that the weaknesses outweigh the strengths of Bentham’s Utilitarianism?

Is it a useful theory for making moral decisions?

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John Stuart Mill

Although Bentham first devised Utilitarianism, many people since then have adapted the theory. The most important of these is John Stuart Mill.

Mill agreed with the principles of Utilitarianism – that it is teleological, hedonistic and based on the Principle of Utility. But Mill recognised the weaknesses in the way Bentham applied these principles to decision-making. In order to retain the good aspects of the theory but to get rid of the weaknesses, Mill made two main changes:

Qualitative measurement of pleasure

Many of the problems of Bentham’s theory arose because he counted the pleasure quantitatively. This means that he only counted the amount of pleasure. So the pleasure that someone gets from eating a chocolate bar or from smashing up a bus shelter might outweigh the pleasure you get from doing well at college or doing charity work.

Bentham thought that this was perfectly acceptable, but many people disagree. Mill said:

“It is quite compatible with the principle of utility to recognise the fact, that some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others.”

In order to include a qualitative measurement of pleasure as well as a quantitative one, Mill devised the idea of Higher and Lower pleasures.He said that while all kinds of pleasure would be counted, certain kinds of pleasure are more valuable and should therefore count for more than others.

Mill famously said:

“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”

Task

What does this statement mean?Do you agree with it?

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Mill claimed that the more valuable kind of pleasure (“higher pleasures”) are any pleasures that arise from the mind – intellectual, mental or spiritual pleasures.

Those that are less valuable (“lower pleasures”) are those that arise from the body – physical pleasures.

Tasks

1 Identify which of these activities are higher and which are lower pleasures:

doing yogaplaying footballeating chocolate cakedrinking champagneplaying a musical instrument going to a pop/rock concertwriting poetrymaking a chocolate cakegoing for a walk

2 What problems with Mill’s theory does this exercise highlight?

Rule Utilitarianism

The other area of Bentham’s theory that is problematic is in actually using it to make a decision. Mill recognised that it would be highly impractical (and probably impossible) to apply the principle of utility and the hedonic calculus every time you want to make a decision.

Mill wanted a way of getting to the right decision without having to do a complex calculation every time, so he devised Rule Utilitarianism.

Whereas the Act Utilitarian applies the Principle of Utility directly to the act they are deciding on, the Rule Utilitarian uses the Principle of Utility to generate general rules. Then when a decision is needed, we can just consult our rules.

So, Rule Utilitarianism is still teleological because the rules are based on what would create the most pleasurable consequences. But at the time when you are applying the rules, it is deontological.

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Stage 1 – Making the rules

Stage 2 – Applying the rules

TaskLook back at your strengths and weaknesses of Bentham’s theory. Has Mill solved the problems? Does Mill’s utilitarianism have problems of its own?

Strengths of Mill’s Rule Utilitarianism

1. We do generally agree that happiness is good and that suffering is bad. So it fits with our moral intuitions.

2. Once you have made the rules, it is very easy to apply.

3. It avoids some of the counter-intuitive results of Bentham’s version by differentiating between higher and lower pleasures.

Problems with Mill’s Rule Utilitarianism

1. It is very difficult to make the rules, because we can’t predict the future or read people’s minds.

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Hmm… which rules will generally bring about the

most happiness?Rule 1 – “Don’t kill

people”

Now, should I kill this man? Oh no – I’ve got a rule that says “Don’t kill people”.

So I won’t!


2. It is still based on hedonism.3. It is very difficult to distinguish between higher and lower pleasures.

Modern Developments of Utilitarianism

Since Bentham and Mill, there have been many people who have been attracted to its general idea, but who have adapted it in various ways, creating new forms of utilitarianism.

Negative Utilitarianism (key scholar: Karl Popper)

The negative utilitarian claims that it is not increasing pleasure that matters, or even the balance of pleasure over pain.

It is the minimising of pain that makes right actions morally better than others.

So the right action is the one that results in the least pain.

Tasks:

1 Look back at page 3. Which of actions A, B or C would the negative utilitarian claim is the right action. Why?

2 Which do you think is more important – maximising happiness or minimising pain? Explain your answer.

Ideal Utilitarianism (key scholar: G.E.Moore)

Moore agrees that the right action is whatever causes the “greatest good”. But he is not a hedonist, so he doesn’t believe that “good” means pleasure or happiness.

Instead, he says the “good” that should result from our actions includes all kinds of aspects, such as beauty and friendship.

To support his theory, Moore asked the reader to compare two worlds, one was entirely beautiful, full of things which complimented each other; the

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other was a hideous, ugly world, filled with “everything that is most disgusting to us.” But there are no human beings around to appreciate or be disgusted by these worlds. Moore thought it was clear that the beautiful world was better, so beauty must be part of the “good”.

Preference Utilitarianism (key scholar: Peter Singer)

This is another non-hedonistic form of utilitarianism.Rather than measuring pleasure and pain, the preference utilitarian counts up how many people’s preferences are met by different actions.

So, if action A satisfies 5 people’s preferences and action B satisfies 2, then the right action is action A.

Watch the interview with Singer and answer these questions:

1. Utilitarianism?

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1. What does Singer mean by Preference Utilitarianism?

2. Why does he see this as better than Bentham and Mill’s versions?

3. What does he say are the three main strengths of Preference Utilitarianism?

4. What does he say is the main weakness of Preference Utilitarianism?


Evaluation Questions:1. Is any form of utilitarianism effective as a method for making moral

decisions?2. How far is utilitarianism compatible with religious ethics?3. To what extent has utilitarianism influenced law-making and society’s

views?

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Documents

Title · Web viewDoes Mill’s utilitarianism have problems of its own? Strengths of Mill’s Rule Utilitarianism We do generally agree that happiness is good and that suffering is