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BENTHAMS ACT UTILITARIANISM - Coggle Diagram
BENTHAMS ACT UTILITARIANISM
BENTHAM
came from wealthy family and trained in law
he saw the legal system as failing to defend the poorest in society so never took up a profession in law
was an intellectual child prodigy
he was sent to Queens college at age 12
he achieved bachelor degree 3 year later and then a asters degree
he declared there was a 'sinister influence' within the law where those in power worked to protect their own interests, rather than interests of society as a whole
overall he promoted social, legal and economic reform and in promoting equality
he attacked privilege and everything that stood in the way of justice of all classes
Bentham was an atheist who saw religion as preventing morality
therefore he created a theory that doesnt rely on Go, but focuses on the human ability to reason
His starting point for Act utilitarianism was his claim that people are motivated by the desire to achieve happiness/pleasure, and avoid pain
this fact of human experience determines what is morally right and wrong
this leads to the principle of utility
THE PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY
the principle of maximising pleasure and minimising pain for all those affected by an action
“create all the happiness you are able to create, remove all the misery you are able to remove”
THE HEDONIC CALCULUS
He thought that pleasure and pain were measurable
he devises the hedonic calculus as a way of measuring the overalll rightness or wrongness of an action
this is particularly helpful as a system of government
as a social reformer, Bentham was not only thinking about how individuals make moral decisions, but how governments could consider what actions bring about good for the majority
THE PRINCIPLES:
1) INTENSITY:stronger happiness better than weaker
2) DURATION: long lasting pleasure better than brief
3) CERTAINTY: an act that all definitely produce pleasure better than potential pleasure
4) PROPINQUITY: the more immediate the pleasure the better
5) FECUNDITY: a pleasure that will produce more pleasure in the future has more value than one pleasure that leads to no more pleasure
6) PURITY: a pleasure with no pain mixed in is the greatest pleasure
7) EXTENT: the more people sharing the pleasure, the better
HEDONISM :
Bentham believed that humans are slaves to 2 'soverign masters'- pleasure and pain
he looked at humans and recognised hat in everything we do, we act naturally to avoid pain and gain pleasure
in his life he therefore focused on what brought him the most pleasure, and reccommended others do the same
happiness/pleasure is the soul intrinsic good, and everything else at best is instrumentally good
there is too much emphasis inconsequences which we cannot be certain of
it requires us to second guess the future, and its easy to get that wrong
His theory is TELEOLOGICAL as one must consider the consequences of an action to determine its morality
there are therefore no moral absolutes
what brings about the best for majority in one situation may not necessarily be the same in another situation
REPLY:
In most cases, we can be reasonably sure
in 'general classes of acts' (rape,murder,arson etc)we know from experience these acts will lead to unhappiness
It ignores motives, rules & duties
the morality of an action is why you do it
people need to have the stability od moral rules and their duty to obey them
REPLY:
motives are the same as the intended consequence,so are considered
rules and duties do have a place but only if they serve the greatest happiness ptinciple
It ignores the rights of minorities
thee is no gaurantee the majority is morally tright
REPLY: if the rights of the minority are considered above the rights of the majority, this is unjust
its a far greater injustice