Utilitarianism
An Introduction to the Moral
Theories of Jeremy Bentham
and John Stuart Mill
Ethical Judgments
Ethical philosophy differs from the
sciences because it is normative or
prescriptive, rather than descriptive.
In other words, ethics tell us how we
ought to act or what we should do,
while the sciences are more likely to
observe how things are in nature or
society.
Making Ethical Judgments
Areas of Emphasis in Making Moral
Judgments
Purpose or Act, Rule, Results or
Motive or Maxim Consequences
Making Ethical Judgments in
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism says that the Result or the
Consequence of an Act is the real
measure of whether it is good or bad.
This theory emphasizes Ends over
Means.
Theories, like this one, that emphasize
the results or consequences are called
teleological or consequentialist.
Utilitarianism
The founder of classical utilitarianism is Jeremy
Bentham.
According to Bentham human beings always try to
avoid pains and seek pleasures.
This kind of moral behavior is also called
hedonism. Hedonism equates good with pleasure.
Defining Utilitarianism
The founder of classical utilitarianism is
Jeremy Bentham.
Utilitarianism is a consequentialist ethical
theory
It is consequentialist because it tells us that
an act’s rightness or wrongness is determined
solely by the act’s consequences and not by
any feature of the act itself.
An example
For example, if I make a promise to you and then
act in such a way as to break it, my act has the
feature of breaking a promise, and many people
would claim my act was wrong because it has that
feature.
However, according to utilitarianism, that feature
does not make the act wrong for that feature is
irrelevant to whether the act is right or wrong.
For the utilitarian, whether breaking a promise is
right or wrong depends entirely on the act’s
consequences.
Best consequences (?)
Whether an act is morally right or wrong depends on whether
the act does or does not bring about the best consequences.
But how are we going to define the best consequences?
According to Bentham human beings always try to avoid
pains and seek pleasures.
This kind of moral behavior is also called hedonism.
Hedonism equates good with pleasure.
How can we evaluate pain and
pleasure
When called upon to make a moral decision one measures an
action's value with respect to pleasure and pain according to the
following:
intensity (how strong the pleasure or pain is)
duration (how long it lasts)
certainty (how likely the pleasure or pain is to be the result of the
action)
proximity (how close the sensation will be to performance of the
action)
fecundity (how likely it is to lead to further pleasures or pains)
purity (how much intermixture there is with the other sensation).
One also considers extent — the number of people affected by the
action.
Jeremy
Bentham
Bentham’s Formulation of
Utilitarianism
Man is under two great masters, pain and
pleasure.
The great good that we should seek is
happiness. (a hedonistic perspective)
Those actions whose results increase
happiness or diminish pain are good. They
have “utility.”
Jeremy Bentham’s Hedonistic
Calculus
In determining the quantity of happiness
that might be produced by an action, we
evaluate the possible consequences by
applying several values:
Intensity, duration, certainty or
uncertainty, propinquity or remoteness,
fecundity, purity, and extent.
Three Theses of Utilitarianism
Consequentialism: The rightness of actions is
determined solely by their consequences.
Hedonism: Utility is the degree to which an act
produces pleasure. Hedonism is the thesis that
pleasure or happiness is the good that we seek
and that we should seek.
Maximalism: A right action produces the greatest
good consequences and the least bad.
Two Formulations of Utilitarian
Theory Greatest Happiness:
Principle of We ought to do
Utility: The best that which
action is that produces the
which produces greatest
the greatest happiness and
happiness least pain for the
and/or reduces greatest number
pain. of people.
Two Types of Utilitarianism
Act: An Action is
Rule: An action is right
right if and only if it if and only if it conforms
produces the to a set of rules the
greatest balance of general acceptance of
pleasure over pain which would produce
for the greatest the greatest balance of
number. (Jeremy pleasure over pain for
Bentham) the greatest number.
(John Stuart Mill)
Application of Utilitarian Theory
A) You attempt to B) You attempt to
help an elderly help an elderly man
man across the across the street.
street. He gets You stumble as you
across safely. go, he is knocked
Conclusion: the into the path of a car,
Act was a good and is hurt.
act. Conclusion: The Act
was a bad act.
Application of Utilitarian Theory
If you can use eighty soldiers as a decoy in
war, and thereby attack an enemy force
and kill several hundred enemy soldiers,
that is a morally good choice even though
the eighty might be lost.
If lying or stealing will actually bring about
more happiness and/or reduce pain, Act
Utilitarianism says we should lie and steal
in those cases.
Application of Utilitarian Theory
Actual Cases
The decision at Coventry during WWII.
The decision was made not to inform the town
that they would be bombed.
Criticisms of Bentham’s theory
Bentham’s theory could mean that if 10
people would be happy watching a man
being eaten by wild dogs, it would be a
morally good thing for the 10 men to kidnap
someone (especially someone whose death
would not cause grief to many others) and
throw the man into a cage of wild, hungry
dogs.
John Stuart Mill’s Adjustments to
Utilitarianism
Mill argues that we must consider the
quality of the happiness, not merely the
quantity.
For example, some might find happiness
with a pitcher of beer and a pizza. Others
may find happiness watching a fine
Shakespearean play. The quality of
happiness is greater with the latter.
Mill’s Quality Arguments
“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied
than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates
dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the
fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is
because they only know their own side of the
question. The other party to the comparison
knows both sides.”
Criticisms of Utilitarianism
If I am to bring the greatest happiness to the
greatest number, not putting my own
happiness above others, that may lead to a
dilemma. I live in a neighborhood where
83% of my neighbors use drugs. I could
make them most happy by helping supply
them with cheap drugs, but I feel
uncomfortable doing that. What should a
utilitarian do?
Criticisms of Utilitarianism
Bernard Williams criticizes the implied
“doctrine of negative responsibility” in
Utilitarianism. For example, a thug breaks
into my home and holds six people
hostage, telling us he will kill all of us.
“However,” the thug says, “if you will kill
two of your family, I will let you and the
other three live.”
With Utilitarianism, the good thing to do is
to kill two members of my family.
Criticisms of Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism plays fast and loose with
God’s commandments. If lying, stealing,
or killing could lead to an increase of
happiness for the greatest number, we are
told we should lie, steal or kill. Isn’t that a
rejection of God’s commands?
A Second Criticism of Utilitarianism
If one must decide the probable outcome of
an act before knowing whether it is good or
bad, how can children learn to evaluate
acts, since they know so little of what
consequences might arise from their
actions?
Rights and Utilitarianism
Many philosophers hold that we have certain
rights, either from God, nature, or from a social
contract
Can the idea of rights be made compatible with
Utilitarianism?
If ignoring rights brings about more happiness to
the greatest number, should we ignore so-called
rights?
