Utilitarianism

1
Utilitarianism

• Classical and Contemporary

2
Utilitarianism and Fundamental Questions

• Is there a universal standard?
• If so, what is it and how do we know?
• What is the role of reason?
• Are ethical standards based on doing or being?
• Is the rightness of an action determined by the
  action itself or its consequences?
• Is ethics concerned with goals, purpose?

3
Utilitarianism and Fundamental Questions

• There is a universal standard, happiness or
  pleasure
• We can make a rational determination of that
  standard by empirical means
• The standard is based on goals, purposes and
• Is concerned with actions and value
• The consequences of an action determine rightness

4
Utilitarianism as Consequentialist

• The rightness of actions is determined by their
  actual outcomes or consequences.
• Right actions produce the greatest amount of good
  possible among the available options maximizing
  principle.

5
Utilitarianism as Universalist and Impartial

• Good consequences increase the welfare of
  individuals
• It does not matter who the individuals are
• Universalist must consider consequences for ALL
  stakeholders
• Impartial must consider consequences for ALL
  stakeholders EQUALLY

6
Utility

• Actions have good and bad consequences
• Good minus bad utility
• One should choose action with greatest utility
• Greatest utility may equal
• Greatest net good
• Least net evil

7
Classical Utilitarianism

• Welfare is defined as happiness
• Happiness is defined as pleasure
• Not Aristotles definition of pleasure
• Hedonistic
• Pleasure includes physical, aesthetic, and
  intellectual pleasure

8
Classical Utilitarianism

• Jeremy Bethams felicific calculus
• One can calculate the utility of an action by
• Assigning numerical value to units of pleasure
  and pain that will result
• Counting persons affected by each
• And considering the following dimensions of
  pleasure or pain

9
Classical Utilitarianism Bentham

• Intensity
• Duration
• Likelihood
• Propinquity
• Fecundity
• Purity
• Extent

10
Classical Utilitarianism Bentham

• One must calculate the utility of all possible
  actions and choose the one that maximizes the
  good.

11
Classical Utilitarianism Mill

• John Stuart Mill sought to defend utilitarianism
  against critics, who
• called it a theory for pigs and
• found it much too complex for real use
• To do so, he made revisions to Benthams theory.

12
Classical Utilitarianism Mill

• Nothing in Bentham to prevent defining some
  pleasures as more enduring, etc.
• Mill made explicit that aesthetic and
  intellectual pleasures are qualitatively superior
  to physical pleasures
• Thus, they have greater value in calculating
  utility.

13
Classical Utilitarianism Mill

• Mills proof of the theory
• People desire happiness for its own sake.
• If something is desired for its own sake, it is
  desirable.
• If it is desirable, it is intrinsically good (by
  definition).

14
Classical Utilitarianism Mill

• Each persons happiness is an intrinsic good.
• General happiness is good for people as a whole.

15
Classical Utilitarianism Mill

• Problem of complexity addressed by defining two
  levels of moral thinking
• Intuitive in most situations, follow rules of
  commonsense morality
• Critical when rules come into conflict, follow
  principles of utility

16
Classical Utilitarianism

• Bentham and Mill
• The Industrial Revolution in England
• Social upheaval
• Urbanization
• Industrialization

17
Classical Utilitarianism

• Utilitarianism was useful in efforts to pass
  legislation to meet the needs of the huge numbers
  of people impacted by the upheaval
• Limits on work day
• Limits on child labor in industry
• Education
• Public health

18
Contemporary Utilitarianism

• Are you a utilitarian?
• Did your answers to the questions suggest that
  you tend to be utilitarian in your approach to
  ethical issues?
• What did you find most valuable about the theory?
• Most problematic or least valuable?