Moral philosophy-utilitarianism
The hedonic calculus in a nutshell
-How intense is the pleasure or pain? -How long does the pleasure or pain last? -What's the probability that the pleasure or pain will occur? -How far off into the future is the pleasure or pain? -What is the probability that the pleasure will lead to others pleasures? -How many people are affected by the pleasure or pain?
Purity
-an act that causes only pleasure is better than one that causes the same amount of pleasure mixed with a little pain -when either pleasure or pain is at its extremes it is more pure however when mixed it's purity is less
John Stuart Mill
-believes in act and rule utilitarianism to an extent -mill divided pleasures into higher and lower pleasures. Higher pleasures were those you had to work hard for and lower pleasures were the body's instinctual desires -theory is qualitative -mill believed pleasures aren't of all equal value
Jeremy Bentham
-believes in act utilitarianism -Bentham general rule "the greatest happiness for the greatest number" This/his theory is quantitative
G.E Moore
-believes in ideal utilitarianism -believes there is more to life than pleasure -thinks that hedonistic utilitarianism is too simplistic -believes good is undefinable and we intuitively know what it is
Peter singer
-believes in preference utilitarianism -believes humans are in every way equal to animals -believes that a severely handicapped child should be euthanised as they simply cannot show how they could live their lives or what preferences they could have -believes it should be the individual preferences of any living organism that should be maintained in order to produce the greatest satisfaction
Weaknesses of ideal utilitarianism
-cannot offer any proof or evidence to support the claim that a world without artistic beauty,friendship or love would be less good than our own -it claims that we can intuitively know what is good and evil however this reliance on intuitionism is a potential problem since what's intuitively obvious to one person is not intuitively obvious to another
Certainty
-certainty criteria refers to the probability of the pleasure resulting from the act -how likely a certain action will cause a certain action -you go with the act that will definitely give you pleasure
Weaknesses in Benthams utilitarianism
-difficult to apply -cannot quantify happiness -ignores moral relationships -minorities have no right -different forms of happiness
Weaknesses of mills utilitarianism
-difficult to predict consequences -abandons situationalist appeal of theory -turns into an absolutist approach -soft rule utilitarianism effectively the same as act
Duration
-duration of pleasure caused by an act must be considered when assessing goodness of the act -short bursts/lasting pleasure is viewed less valuable than lasting pleasure
7 criteria to assess pleasure
-intensity -duration -certainty -propinquity -fecundity -purity -extent
Fencundity
-is the likelihood that the pleasures or pains that it causes will be followed by similar pleasures or pains -if the happiness that an act causes is likely to be followed by more happiness then that act is better than a similar act that'll only cause instant happiness -it is basically how many times the pain or pleasure will occur
Higher and lower pleasures
-john Stuart mill helped create this -he divided types of pleasures into 2 distinct sorts -Higher pleasures you had to work for like playing an instrument or reading a book -Lower pleasures, the body's instinctual desires like food,drink and sex HIGHER PLEASURES=INTELLECTUAL LOWER PLEASURES=SENSUAL
Intensity
-less intense the pleasure of an action the less valuable that action is -however if the action leads to intense pleasure the value goes up
The Hedonic Calculus
-lists 7 features of pleasure to which attention must be paid in order to assess how great it is -it is a way of determining how great a pain or pleasure will be by the use of a certain action -Jeremy Bentham created and believes in it
Strengths of ideal utilitarianism
-recognises that the pleasure caused by some acts is not as valuable as the pleasure caused by others because some pleasure comes from the following the ideals of aestheticism and friendship and some does not -recognises what many of us would intuitively accept that a world without beauty or love would not be good even if all the people in it were Happy
Strengths of mills utilitarianism
-supports notion that human wellbeing is generally good -solves many problems with act utilitarianism -encourages democracy
Propinquity
-the more distant the benefits in either space or time,the less weight we should give them for making our decision -example:how long will it take for the pleasure of the action to take effect
Extent
-the more people enjoy the pleasure,the better -this certain assessment is unlike the last 6 as it was not among the criteria described by Bentham but was added by john Stuart mill
Strengths of preference utilitarianism
-the theory embodies a more complex human psychology.simply applying the classical notion of happiness as the sole means of analysing good moral principles doesn't exhaust the things we want I.e. A good relationship,a healthy body, political freedom, meaningful relationships etc -recognises that each persons experience of satisfaction is unique -practical and useful -easy to apply to real life situations hedonism (the pursuit of pleasure"
Principle of equity
equality principle" is a philosophical, moral, and legal doctrine asserting that all human beings are "equal," and that they ought to be treated "equally" under the law.
Ideal utilitarianism
A utilitarian theory which denies that the sole object of moral concern is the maximising of pleasure or happiness.
Strengths in Benthams utilitarianism
-treats everyone as equals -easy to think of what makes people happy -can be applied to all forms of society across the world and time periods -allows for differences depending on the situation -empirical:based in the world and what occurs in it
Weaknesses of preference utilitarianism
-unpredictable -incalculable -unfair to some people -it turns utilitarianism from an objective moral theory into a subjective one.Classical utilitarians can claim that morality is objective because everyone shares the same desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain.preferance-satisfaction utilitarianism seems to conclude that everyone's preferences are different which seems to make morality just a subjective matter of personal choice
Classical/act utilitarianism
Act utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics which states that a person's act is morally right if and only if it produces at least as much happiness as any other act that the person could perform at that time.
Preference utilitarianism
Preference utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism in contemporary philosophy. Unlike classical utilitarianism, in which right actions are defined as those that maximize pleasure and minimize pain, preference utilitarianism entails promoting actions that fulfill the interests (preferences) of those beings involved
Rule utilitarianism
Rule utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism that says an action is right as it conforms to a rule that leads to the greatest good, or that "the rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it is an instance
Utilitarianism conclusion
Since the early 20th century utilitarianism has undergone a variety of refinements. After the middle of the 20th century it has become more common to identify as a 'consequentialist' since very few philosophers agree entirely with the view proposed by the classical utilitarians, particularly with respect to the hedonistic value theory. But the influence of the classical utilitarians has been profound-not only within moral philosophy but within political philosophy and social policy. The question Bentham asked "What use is it?" A cornerstone of policy information. It is a completely secular,forward looking question. The articulation and systematic development of this approach to policy information is owed to the classical utilitarians.
Principle of utility
The principle of utility states that actions or behaviors are right in so far as they promote happiness or pleasure, wrong as they tend to produce unhappiness or pain. Hence, utility is a teleological principle.
G.H.P. (Greatest happiness principle)
Utilitarianism is based off of the Greatest Happiness Principle which states that actions are considered moral when they promote utility and immoral when they promote the reverse. Utility itself is defined by Mill as happiness with the absence of pain
Utilitarianism
the doctrine that an action is right in so far as it promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct.
