Jeremy

Bentham

J.S. Mill
 Utilitarianism
The creed which accepts as the
foundation of morals, utility, or the
greatest happiness principle, holds
that actions are right in proportion
as they tend to promote happiness,
wrong as they tend to produce the
reverse of happiness. J.S.MILL
The utilitarian
principle:
Act to promote the greatest
good (happiness) for the
greatest number.
Benthams Act
Utilitarianism
Jeremy
Bentham
1748-1832
Philosopher of
ethics & political-
legal theory
Democrat,
reformer
Bentham=s project

Was to find an objective basis

for moral decision making.
He rejected notions of moral sense,
right reason, fitness of things
common in his day.
He found pleasure to be the only
objective good, and pain the only evil.
 A Key Assumption:
Psychological Hedonism

Nature has placed mankind

under the governance of two
sovereign masters, pain and
pleasure. It is for them alone to
point out what we ought to do.
Jeremy Bentham
 Benthams
Hedonistic Calculus:
Assumes that pleasures &
pains are quantifiable
Assumes pleasures are equal
Sets up a simple calculation
that reveals which actions are
the more morally worthy
We can calculate the merits of
any action according to criteria
1. Intensity
2. Duration
3. Certainty or uncertainty
4. Nearness or remoteness
5. Fecundity
6. Purity
7. Multiply 1-6 by number of affected
individuals.
 The
Sum the values of all
the pleasures on the result:
one side and those of
the pains on the other.
The balance, if it be . . .
pleasure, will give the
good tendency of the
act . . . if on the side of
pain, the bad
tendency. J. Bentham
 Questioning the
assumptions:
Quantity of pleasures being equal,
pushpin is as good as poetry. J. Bentham

But are pleasures really equal?

Is happiness really quantifiable?

 Questioning the
implications
Is it too much to ask each individual
to calculate each act?
What is the ideal reach of the theory?
What does it require?
Does its premise (psychological
hedonism) undermine its ethical
principle?
Mills Rule Utilitarianism
John Stuart Mill
1806-1873
Used utilitarian
theory to promote
19th C. social reforms

Tries to correct
Benthams theory
 From Act to Rule
There is no time, previous
to action, for calculating
and weighing the effects
of any line of conduct on
general happiness.
J. S. Mill
 Rule Utilitarianism
Based on past experience &
knowledge, we can determine what
acts in general produce happiness
over unhappiness
apply the Utilitarian principle to
general rules, or moral codes as a
whole.
i.e. the Ten Commandments
Or the Bill of Rights
 Pleasure Correction

All pleasures are not equal.

No intelligent being would
consent to be a fool. j. s. mill

Distinguishes base from

noble pleasures.
 Advantages of
utilitarianism:
It recognizes the social context of
morality.
Best applies when large numbers are
affected by an action.
Highlights a common sense belief
about ethical behavior
Actions should promote positive
consequences.
 Critique of utilitarianism
How can it be consistently applied?
Seems to sanction morally abhorrent
actions
Promotes a kind of cost-benefit
analysis
Ecological ethics, Business Ethics:
Modern slavery, Sale of Organs,
consumer protection
Does Utilitarianism ask
too much?
 Issue of knowledge
How far into the future must we
calculate the consequences?
How accurate can our knowledge of
the future ever be?

An ambiguity: When am I moral?

When I intend to promote GH?
When I in fact promote GH?
 Issue of Self-Sacrifice
Places the collective above the
individual

Asks us to subordinate individual

interests for the good of the whole

Do these facts undermine the core

values of individuality? Self reliance?
Autonomy? Independence?
 Questions of Happiness
How is happiness to be defined?
A. By the individual?
This leads to relativism or
subjectivism.
B. By some objective standard?
This implies there is another standard
that grounds utilitarianism.