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.