Utilitarianism and the Utility Principle

Utilitarianism is the philosophical theory that analyses whether or not an action gives the greatest happiness to the largest amount of people.

teleological & consequentialist

-utilitarianism is a teleological theory, which means it is focused upon the end goal, the result, as opposed to the moral theory
-it is also consequentialist theory and focuses on the outcomes of a moral judgement

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

Remoteness: Is the pleasure or pain in the near or distant future?

Richness: Will this pleasure lead to another pleasure?

Intensity: Is the pleasure or pain intense? How intense?

Certainty: How certain are you that the pleasure or pain will actually happen?

Extent: The number of people that would be affected by the pleasure or pain.

Act Utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham’s act utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of an action, not the intention behind it or the moral obligation a human has to others and the world around them.

deontological, i.e. the moral value of the action is contained in obedience to the rule rather than the act itself or the outcome.

principles of act utilitarianism

-act utilitarianism avoids moral rules, such as the ten commandments because it is based solely upon the consequences of actios. moral rules do not apply in this version of utilitarianism
-if an action produces the greatest happiness for the largest amount of people, then a moral rules does not matter
-this means act utilitarianism is known for looking at each situation abased on its individuaity

happiness for largest majority

-act utilitarianism focuses on promoting happiness and pleasure over pain for the largest majority of people

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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

rule utilitarianism

Rule utilitarianism was devised by John Stuart Mill. Rule utilitarianism focuses on the application of moral rules to decision-making and how these rules can produce the greatest happiness.

Rule utilitarianism is essentially deontological, i.e. the moral value of the action is contained in obedience to the rule rather than the act itself or the outcome.

rejection of hedionic calculus

-mill rejected the hedionic calculus as he felt it took too long to use it and it could be misused

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

Debates About Utilitarianism

Is utilitarianism helpful for making moral decisions? Can we really use 'good' to make a moral decision?

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advantages of utilitarianism

-a great number of people gain happiness and pleasure from the principle being applied
-as human beings, we naturally look at the consequences of an action before we make a decision. so the hedonic calculus is logical and easy for us to use
-rule utilitarianism promotes happiness by applying societal rules that keep the hedonic calculus from being misused
-the principle as a whole is flexible and easily adaptable to different sitautions

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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