Utilitarianism
Bentham
Mill
Singer
Rule vs. Act
Other foms
hedonic calculus : system for calculating amount of pain or pleasure generated
intensity, duration, certainty, extent, remoteness, richness, purity
maximising quantity of pleasure not prioritising specific forms
1st principle : action should produce greatest happiness overall
2n principle : 1st principle can support everyday principles - customary morality
Crisp : Haydn and the oyster : choose Haydn as type of experiences are better than that of the oyster - mental pleasures are higher pleasures compared to oysters lower bodily pleasures
Haydyn and the oyster : choose oyster as smaller pleasures extended so eventually outweigh that of Haydyns life
preference util : not judged on pleasure or pain, but hoe they affect the preferences of everyone involved
ability to feel suffering grants personhood/moral status
CRITICISMS
Empiricist - all knowledge ultimately based on sense data - ethics based on experience
integrity problem : just because a person seeks happiness for themselves, does not mean they seek happiness for everyone else
against speciesism (discrimination against nonhuman animals)
Act Utilitarianism (Bentham) - assess each separate act according to whether it maximises pleasure over pain
Rule utilitarianism (Mill) - supports rules that on balance produce the greatest pleasure for society
Mill on Bentham - philosophy is too mechanical for humanity - only looks at morality and ignores aesthetic and sympathetic factors
Popper - Negative Utilitarianism - concerned with minimisation of pain - more pragmatic
would it be moral for 10 people to harm 5 people if pleasure greater than pain
no hierarchy
hard to quantify emotional
pleasure too subjective
BUT : happiness is also subjective, different depending on person
Higher pleasure - something that helps you progress eg. learning
Lower pleasure - animalistic eg. eating
"It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied"
BUT : pleasures can contratst - is it okay to cut down forest to build a school
believes any animal preference is to live
fallacy of composition : Mill has not demonstrated that every mans happiness is good for everyone if not most desirable for individual
pleasure too simplistic, does not account for human complexity