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Utilitarianism - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Jeremy Bentham- 'pleasure'
        -Bentham was the leading philosopher in Utilitarianism and he promoted the utility principle as the best way to make a decision for the majority
        -Bentham focused on the idea of 'pleasure' as opposed to happiness
        -so his theory when applied to decision making, was not about considering how happy the greatest amount of people were; it was about how muc pleasure they would receive from an action
        
        the utility principle
        -the utility principle argues that an action os correct if it promotes happiness and wrong if it creates pain
        -the definition of utility is usefulness. so the utility principle analyses the usefulness of the actions
        -the utility principle is applied to potential decisions and is sed to decide whether this action will produce the largest amount of pleasure for the largest amount of people. if it does, it is the correct action to take. if it does not, then an alternative should be found
        
        the hedonic calculus
        -method of applysing the utility principle to potential decisions and working out which action will produce the most pleasure
        -the hedonic calculus asks seven questions abot the potential action. this then concludes how much pleasure and how much pain would result from this action
        
        the hedonic calculus: 7 questions
        PuRRICED
        
        purity: will this pain lead to anothr pain?
        
        Remoteness: Is the pleasure or pain in the near or distant future?
        
        1 more item...
- - - - happiness for largest majority
        -act utilitarianism focuses on promoting happiness and pleasure over pain for the largest majority of people
        
        ❌
        criticisms: pleasures can be bad
        -act utilitarianism has a few weaknesses which caused John Stuart Mill to devise rule utilitarianism
        
        there are certain situations in which pleasure can actually be bad and pain can be a good thing
        
        the hedonic calculus can be used in a bad way to simply achieve what people want rather than looking at what is actually good for the majority
        
        ❌
        criticism: family attachments
        -Bnethan says we need to look past family attachments and this shouldnt come into our decision process
        -However, this is impossible as humans do have an obligation to their family and it would be very difficult to not take this into account when making a decision
  - - - Mills Qualitative approach
        -whilst Bentham used a quantitative approach to pleasure and happiness- the amount of pleasure- Mill applied a qualitative approach to his version of utilitarianism- some pleaures are bettwe than others
        
        Higher and Lower Pleasures
        -mill divided pleasures into sections: higher and lower pleasures
        
        things like philosophy are higher pleasures, whilst drinking alcohol and eating out in expensive restuarants are lower pleasures
        -mill beleived humans should not be aiming for individual pleasures, but for the whole happiness of societys and communities
        
        'Harm principle'
        -additionally, Mill added a 'harm principple' on to his version of utilitarianism
        -he stated that if an action involved harming another person, it was wrong
        -applying this harm principle to utilitarianism makes the hedonic calculus more ethical and prevents peopel from using it in a non moral way
        
        act vs rule utilitarianism
        -Bentham focussed on analysing each individual act and the amount of pleasure for the most amount of people
        -Mill focussed on applying general rules to decisions and trying to produce the greatest amount of happiness for the whole of human society as opposed to pleasure for the majority
- - - - ❌
        disadvantages of utilitarianism
        -sometimes we cannot know the consequences of out actions
        -it takes time to apply the hedonic calculus to every decision you make, so it isnt logical to use it for every decision
        -the hedonic calculus can be misused by some people and break ethical rules
        -some groups in society may be targeted using the hedonic calculus- meaning minority groups could be unfairily treated
        
        universally applicable or not?
        -the utility principle can be applied universally and can reduce harm, thus increasing happiness
        -but you cannot know what is going to happen in the future, so the principle cannot be used effectively when we do not know whther the action will produce happiness or pain. this means it cannot always be applicable and caan be difficult to apply
        
        can we measure 'good'?
        -you could argue that 'good' is immeasureable and you cannot put a value on pleasure
        -we all have a diffrent understanding of happiness and so we cannot measure or compare pleasure and happiness
        
        unethical uses of utilitarianism
        -although it can be logical to look at the consequences of an action, utilitarianism can be used in unethical ways to produce 'pleasure' for some and suffering for other
        -this means it can be the action itself that makes the decision wrong, not necessarily just the consequences
        -finally, you cannot always trust people to use 'good' when making a moral decision. some people may act for their own selfish reasons and justify the decision based on the greater good