Utilitarianism

Guiding Principle 5

Utilitarianism

• This is an example of an autonomous value system

• It is a consequentialist system (it is not the intention behind an action that counts, but the consequences/outcome of an action)

• This was developed by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and J.S. Mill (1806-1873)

• Like Kant, they believed there had to be a universal and objective way to figure out morality.

• Unlike Kant, they were concerned with the outcomes rather than the motives of an action.

Bentham

• Bentham thought humans were hedonists – we are controlled by two things:– Pleasure (something we want)– Pain (something we avoid)

• Therefore he thought that people should act in a way that brings about the greatest amount of pleasure, or the least amount of pain (for the majority of people).

• “Actions are right to the extent that they produce the greatest good for the greatest number.”

• This approach makes morality objective and measurable.• It also means that the role of the individual is lessened – it

means that the person making the decision is a ‘factor’ in the equation. His own personal feelings do not count – it should be a rational and objective decision.

Bentham’s Method

• Bentham argued that you cannot ‘see’ what a person’s intentions are, but you can see the consequences of what they do.

• In order to figure out whether something is good or not, he said you have to consider 3 things– Because humans are essentially hedonists, we measure

the motivations of pleasure and pain– We do this in general by looking at the principle of

utility: what is most useful is the greatest good for the greatest number

– We can measure this by using the Hedonistic Calculus: this weighs up the pleasure and pain by looking at things like duration, intensity and reach.

Act Utilitarianism

• Bentham was an example of an ‘act utilitarian’• This means that each situation is seen as different,

and a utilitarian must figure out what to do for each individual situation by thinking through all possible outcomes.

• For some Act Utilitarians, the only way to figure out what to do in a situation is to use the hedonistic calculus every time.

• There are no universal laws, so it might be considered the right thing to do to break basic laws like ‘do not steal’ if it turned out to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number.

Rule Utilitarianism• J.S. Mill was more of a ‘rule utilitarian’.• He believed that humans knew from experience the kind of

actions that produce pleasure or cause pain.• Because of this we can come up with general moral

principles that should be followed in the majority of cases.• For example, the rule ‘do not steal’ usually results in people

being happy and feeling safe, whilst limiting the amount of pain caused.

• Rule Utilitarians would not feel the need to calculate the possible outcomes of each situation if they have tried and tested rules that work with the utilitarian maxim (The greatest good for the greatest number).

• In this case, if a rule utilitarian could benefit themselves by breaking a rule (e.g. do not steal), they would not because breaking these rules in general does not benefit the majority.

J.S. Mill

• J.S. Mill, a rule utilitarian, also placed an emphasis on the types of pleasure and pain a person felt.

• He said that all emotions could not be counted equally in calculations (like the Hedonistic Calculus)

• He came up with a system:– Higher pleasures (gained from education, music, art,

etc)– Lower pleasures (gained from physical pursuits like

eating and sex)• It is more important to have more higher

pleasures for the majority than lower pleasures.