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Utilitarianism Plan
Section 1
Intro
Bentham – social reform needed new ethics
Universalisable, consequentialist, teleological, relativist
Principle of Utility – Measure of the usefulness of an action, a good action brings happiness
Inspired by Hutcheson “Greatest good for the greatest number.”
Bentham - Act
Quantitatively measure pleasure Hedonist 1789 “Nature has placed mankind
under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to decide what we ought to do.”
Hedonic Calculus
Mill - Rule
Qualitative measure “Competent judges,” higher/lower
pleasure, everyone can experience both
“Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
Preference
Solves subjectivity Peter Singer/R.M. Hare Satisfies preferences, easy to
express Joan of Arc
Section 2
Democratic
Acts in the good of the majority Does not allow a dangerous minority
to dominate
Simple
Easy to understand Principle of Utility is hard to
misinterpret.
Intuitive
Based on common sense Everyone wants to experience
pleasure
Too simplistic
Moral dilemmas are complex
Ignores Motivation
A person’s aims could be good and their actions could go wrong.
“Forbids Nothing”
Phillip Pettit: “So long as they promised the best consequences, it would forbid absolutely nothing.”