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Utilitarianism - Coggle Diagram
Utilitarianism
Rule utilitarianism
Mill points out the flaws of Bentham's act utilitarianism, with prioritising the majority
Says that it can justify a 'tyranny of the majority' - what the majority want and get pleasure from should not be the morally right thing to do
Leads to 'swine ethics', which is the justification of immoral behaviour
"It is better to be a Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied" - like Socrates, Mill believed it is our duty to challenge these systems of society, even if it comes at a cost
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Liberal principle - humans are the best judge of their own happiness and as such should be given maximum freedom or liberty to rationally make decisions that maximise pleasure and minimise pain
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'My right to swing my arm ends where your nose begins' - we have freedom but it should not come at the cost of the suffering of others
You should follow rules that will generally bring the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people
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With the Sadistic Guard example, Mill would say that it is morally wrong, as society would not be good based on pleasure coming from harm
Even though 3 people have pleasure, it is not morally good, with a holistic view in society and how the behaviour would not maximise pleasure as a whole
Weaknesses
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Cannot make decisions based on the consequence of a decisions, as we do not know what this will be
Instead, must base morality on an action rather than its potential outcome of pleasure
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Hedonic Calculus
If we have to act in a way to maximise pleasure and minimise pain, then there must be a way of measuring pleasure
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Intensity - How deep is the pleasure, or how much pleasure is there
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Strengths
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Quantifying pleasure in an empirical, data driven way, making it practical and objective
Mill's example is easily overcome with the importance of purity, so the approach would not allow it
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Principle of utility
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Strengths
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Humans naturally seek pleasure, so easily applicable by everyone to choose what they want
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Teleological approach, so it looks at the long term impact of the decision
Weaknesses
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It may justify an action that is morally wrong (for example, the trolley problem)
Act utilitarianism
When you make a decision, you prioritise the maximising of pleasure and minimising of pain, which is the motivating factor behind all behaviour
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'Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure, and it is for them alone to point out what we should do'
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Context
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During enlightenment period, focusing on what is rational for people
Wanted society to shift towards benefiting the majority, and a reduction of aristocratic power and privilege
Mill - Sadistic Guards
An innocent man is wrongly imprisoned and three guards take pleasure out of torturing the man while he is in prison
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However, Bentham argues that if you apply Hedonic Calculus correctly, you wouldn't reach the conclusion that torturing the guard is acceptable due to purity of the action
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