Utilitarianism: Bentham

Utilitarianism: Bentham

1. Utilitarianism says that the result or the cinsequence of an act is the real measure if whether it is good or bad

   • emphasizes ends over means
   • therefore it is a TELEOLOGICAL/COSEQUENTIALIST theory

2. Bentham was the founder of Utilitarianism

   • he was born in London at a time of great social change
   • revolutions in France and America meant demands were being made for human rights and greater democracy
   • Bentham worked on legal reform and wrote the principle of morals and legislation 1789

3. Hedonism is the idea that 'good' is defined in terms of pleasure and happiness

   • Plato and Aristotle agreed that 'good' equated to the greatest happiness while Epicuras stated that pleasure is the main aim of life
     • according to Aristotle the end of human desires is happiness and although pleasure sometimes accompanies this it is not the chief aim of life

4. Bentham believed that nature has placed mankind under two sovereign masters: pleasure and pain

   • 'it is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as what we shall do' Bentham
   • he believed all humans pursue pleasure and seek to avoid pain
     • pleasure and pain identify what is a good and bad action
       • the sole good is pleasure and the sole evil is pain

5. the principle of utility: the most moral or the most useful action is one which creates the greatest happiness for the greatest number

   • E.G. a doctor witnesses a car accident with a pregnant woman, the woman's young husband and the woman's father but he can only save two people, who should he save?
     • he should save the pregnant woman first because two people would have happiness - the woman and the baby and then he should save the husband because the happiness of the family outweigh the happiness of one man

6. the hedonic calculus is a quantitative assessment of a situation. it measures:

   • intensity
     • mild pleasure is less valuable than intense pleasure and so the latter is the better act
   • duration
     • quick pleasure is less valuable than lasting pleasure and so the latter is the preferred act
   • certainty
     • how certain is it that the act will bring about the anticipated pleasure?
   • propinquity (how close the pleasure is)
     • the more distant the benefit is in either space or time the less weight we should give it in making decisions
   • fecundity (repetition)
     • how likely is it that the pleasure will occur again in the future
   • purity
     • does the act cause pure pleasure or both pleasure and pain, the more pain caused the worse the action
   • ectent
     • the more people enjoy the pleasure the better - john stuart mill added this

7. examples

   • you attempt to help an elderly man cross the street, he gets across safely - the act was good. if he doesn't get across safely then the act was bad
   • many romans enjoyed watching christians being eaten by lions which Bentham would say is a good act but its clearly bad
   • Bentham would say using the organs of one healthy patient to save several lives is justified when we know its not
   • Bentham would say gang rape is okay because it's creating the greatest happiness for the greatest number
   • if lying/stealing is going to bring abut more happiness then it is fine - les mis