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UTILITARIANISM (Principle of utility (according to Bentham- that which is…
UTILITARIANISM
Principle of utility
this theory is concerned with outcomes, makes it teleological and hedonistic.
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higher/lower pleasures
lower- lowest pleasures shared with animals, eg. pigs
higher- stimulate mind, only experienced by humans.
he realises that some people don't always opt for higher pleasure, this is due to ignorance
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"better to be a human dissatisfied, than a pig satisfied. Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied"
origins of the argument
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Bentham wanted to create a system that would benefit all of society, and based his arguments on an earlier argument from Hutcheson "The greatest happiness for the greatest number"
utilitarianism is a combination of Hume's ideas of utility and Hutcheson's of happiness for the majority.
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Act vs. Rule
ACT ( Bentham)- looks at the situation, every individual circumstance different, applies hedonic calculus to every- absolute. Strong utilitarian
RULE (Mill)- general rules that can be applied universally, creates a balance of good over evil, rules shouldn't be broken as they are the basis of morality, Mill was a weak utilitarian, believed sometimes the rule needs to be changed
EVALUATION
Strengths
Act- objectively applying HC- its a clear guide, subjective- takes into account individual acts, same applies to everyone
Rule-fair, interested in maximising happiness for society, based on natural human morality= universal
Weaknesses
Act- impractical to apply to every situation, HC can be misused and make bad actions ethical
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Hedonic calculus
Bentham's proposed way to seek pleasure, way of calculating the benefit/harm of an actionthrough its consequences, there are 7 parts to work out max. happiness.
- intensity, 2. duration, 3. certainty of pleasure, 4. fecundity (*leads to other pleasures), 5. propinquity, 6. purity (painless pleasures are the best), 7. extent (the more people affected the better)
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