Objectives:

What is happiness?
 To define the concept of happiness and pleasure
 To know the purpose of what makes a person happy
 To distinguish happiness and pleasure

WHAT IS HAPPINESS?
 It is the feeling satisfied and fulfilled in life for a long time.
 Examples: (Complete Family, Successful Marriage, Having a peace of mind)

WHAT IS PLEASURE?
 Momentary feeling that comes from something external.
 Examples: (Buying luxuries, Eating delicious food, Drinking, Reading a book, Sex)

TYPES OF PLEASURE:
1. Higher Pleasure- has something to do with intellect (value)
2. Lower Pleasure- related to our senses (external factor)

PLEASURE VS. HAPPINESS

PLEASURE HAPPINESS
Short-lived Long-lived
Visceral Ethereal
Taking Giving
Experienced alone Experienced in social groups

SITUATION:
 What should you choose? Going to KTV with friends or studying a book about
Differential Equations? Is it considered higher pleasure or lower pleasure? Why?

UTILITARIAN MORAL AGENT

 “A person who has the right to discern an action is right if it tends to promote
happiness and wrong if it is the reverse of it.”
 Note: In Utilitarianism, equating happiness does not aim to describe the agent
alone/independently from others.

“UTILITARIANISM CANNOT LEAD TO SELFISH ACTS.”

 It is a theory that sums up that you can equate happiness with others rather than
yourself only.
 It has a communal characteristic due to its concept of the “GREATEST NUMBER”
 It is neither about our pleasure nor happiness alone.
 Note: If we are the only ones satisfied by our actions, it does not constitute a moral
good. So if you are doing a moral good, you are doing an action that reduces the
harm/pain and increases the good of others.

SITUATION:
Zoey and Macy are having a Physics test. During the test, Zoey noticed that her friend
Macy is having difficulties in answering the questions written in the testpaper. She
decided to let Macy copy from her answers.
 As a utilitarianist, is it considered a good action? Why or why not?

“UTILITARIANISM IS NOT AT ALL SEPARATE FROM LIBERAL SOCIAL PRACTICES

THAT AIM TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF ALL PERSONS.”
 Under the social liberalism concept, it shows that the liberal government tries to do
an action that constitutes a common good for the improvement of the society.
“UTILITARIANISM IS INTERESTED WITH EVERYONE’S HAPPINESS.”
 On this principle, our society should promote activities that produce the greatest
satisfaction for the members of the society.

THE HAPPINESS EQUATION (Do you agree?)

Pleasure
Displeasure

 “Utilitarianism maximizes the total amount of pleasure over displeasure for the
greatest number of happiness”
 Pleasure and Happiness are directly proportional to each other.
 (Note: Pleasure also constitutes happiness, only when the objective of pleasure is
driven by long-term/long-lived conditions)
 Pleasure and Displeasure are inversely proportional to each other.
 “Utilitarianism is interested with the best consequence for the highest number of
people.”

FUN FACT: FUN FACT:

The most influential British social Hedonism (from the Greek word:
and political thinker of the mid- Hedone) means PLEASURE
Victorian period is JOHN STUART
MILL.

FUN FACT:

UTILITARIANISM has also certain

disadvantages. One of the most
breaking disadvantages is the
violation in the standards of
justice.