Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism

1. What is utilitarianism?

   • The greatest happiness principle
   • The greatest good
   • Actions are right if they are useful or beneficial
   • Consequential

2. Act and rule utilitarianism

   • Bentham Act
     • http://bethanyasethics.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/benthams-utilitarianism.html
     • Theory divided into three parts
       • The Principle Of Utility
         • Bentham states that there is no such thing as a selfless act. However an act must be of use to be moral.
       • Motivation
         • Bentham believes that human are motivated by pain and pleasure. We try to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
       • The Hedonic Calculus
         • Seperated into to seven different sections
           • I don't care I'll still pass ethics
           • Intensity
             • How intense is the pleasure? Pleasure which causes a lot of happiness is prefered to pleasure that only causes a small amount.
           • Duration
             • How long will the pleasure last for? Pleasure that lasts a long amount of time is better that temporary pleasure.
           • Certainity
             • How certain an action is to create pleasure. The more certain the better.
           • Immediacy
             • How soon the pleasure can be received. Pleasure that is gained instantly is better than pleasure that will take a while to get.
           • Succession
             • How many times can the pleasure be received? Pleasure which can be given multiple times is more worthy than pleasure only given once.
           • Purity
             • If an action cause pain it is not as worthy as an action without pain. The hedonic caluculus focuses on minimisation of pain
           • Extent
             • Extent was added by Mill. This is about doing the greatest good for the greatest amount
     • Teleological
     • Consequential
   • Mill Rule
     • Like Bentham Mill believes that humans are motivated by pain and pleasure, however Mill claims that there high and low pleasures.
       • High pleaures: higher pleasures are of the mind. They are more worthwhile pleasures such as university and jobs.
       • Low pleasures: Low pleasures are of the body. These consist of more simplistic pleasures such as food.
       • Mill believes that humans would be unhappy with quantitate choices. To an individual qualitieve choices are more valuable. As well as more beneficial.