GE 8 12:00-2:00PM

UTILITARIANISM
Group 7

Aba, Mark

Camay, Antonnette

Morales, Donna Marie

Pono, Lindyll Anne

Villagracia, Erica Lenn

TABLE OF
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

PRINCIPLES

CONCEPTS

CRITICISMS

POV
INTRODUCTION
 UTILITARIANISM
is an ethical theory that determines right

from wrong by focusing on outcomes. It is

a form of consequentialism.
 What is
Utilitarianism??
IT STATES THAT THE
RIGHTNESS AND
WRONGNESS OF ACTIONS
IS DETERMINED BY
GOODNESS AND BADNESS
OF THEIR CONSEQUENCES.
 Utilitarianism

IS THE IDEA THAT THE MORAL WORTH

OF AN ACTION IS SOLELY

DETERMINED BY ITS CONTRIBUTION

TO OVERALL UTILITY IN MAXIMIZING

HAPPINESS OR PLEASURE AS

SUMMED AMONG ALL PEOPLE.

BACKGROUND
The philosopher and jurist
Jeremy Bentham (1748-
1832) was born in
Spitalfields, London, on 15
February 1748.
 Jeremy
Bentham
He proved to be something of a child
prodigy: while still a toddler he was
discovered sitting at his father's desk
reading a multi-volume history of
England, and he began to study Latin
at the age of three.
 Jeremy
Bentham
At twelve, he was sent to Queen's College
Oxford, his father, a prosperous attorney,
having decided that Jeremy would follow him
into the law, and feeling quite sure that his
brilliant son would one day be Lord Chancellor
of England.
 Bentham, however, soon became
disillusioned with the law, especially
after hearing the lectures of the leading
authority of the day, Sir William
Blackstone (1723-80).
 Jeremy
Bentham
Instead of practising the law, he
decided to write about it, and he
spent his life criticising the existing
law and suggesting ways for its
improvement.
 Jeremy Rule of Utility
Bentham
That the good is whatever
brings the greatest
happiness to the greatest
number of people.
Utilitarianism emphasizes on the pleasure

or happiness a person can get from doing

an act or from a particular ourse of action.

If an act produces pleasure, it is

considered good; if it results to pain, it is

considered wrong or bad.

 John Stuart
Mill
James Mill was born
in Scotland in 1773 to
a family of modest
means.
 John Stuart
Mill
Through the patronage of Sir John
and Lady Jane Stuart, he was able to
attend the University of Edinburgh,
which at the time was one of the
finest universities in Europe.
 John Stuart
He trained for the Presbyterian Mill
ministry under the auspices of
admired teachers like Dugald Stewart,
who was an effective popularizer of
Thomas Reid’s philosophy.
 John Stuart
After a brief and generally Mill
unsuccessful stint as a minister,
James Mill moved to London, where he
began his career in letters.
 John Stuart
Mill
This was a difficult path for a man of
very modest resources to take; he and
his wife Harriet (married 1805) lived
without financial security for well
over a decade.
 John Stuart
It was only with the publication of Mill
his The History of British India in
1818—a work that took twelve years
to write—that Mill was able to land
a stable, well paying job at the East
India Company that enabled him to
support his large family.
 John Stuart
Mill
Throughout the years of relative poverty,
James Mill received assistance from friends
including the great legal theorist and
utilitarian reformer Jeremy Bentham, whom he
met in 1808.
 John Stuart
He debated that cultural, Mill
intellectual and spiritual
pleasures are of greater value
than mere physical pleasure as
valued by a competent judge
 Utilitarianism requires that any political

arrangements satisfy the liberty principle (or

harm principle), according to which the only

purpose for which power can be rightfully

exercised over any member of a civilized

community against his will, is to prevent harm

to others, a cornerstone of the principles of

Liberalism and Libertarianism.

Principle
 Actions should be
measured in terms of the
happiness, or pleasure
that they produce.
 HEDONISTIC
UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism starts from the basis
that pleasure and happiness are
intrinsically valuable, that pain and
suffering are intrinsically
disvaluable.
 HEDONISTIC
UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism emphasizes on the
pleasure or happiness a person
can get from doing an act or from
a particular course of action.
 Principle of the Utility
“ACTIONS ARE GOOD IN
SO FAR AS THEY TEND
TO PROMOTE HAPPINESS,
BAD AS THEY TEND TO
PRODUCE UNHAPPINESS”
 UTILITARIAN UTILITY PRINCIPLE
IT IS DETERMINED BY THE EXTENT TO

WHICH IT PROMOTES HAPPINESS

RATHER THAN ITS REVERSE…

CONSEQUENCES, EFFECTS, RESULTS

AND OUTCOMES ARE MOST

IMPORTANT.
 PRINCIPLE OF THE
GREATEST HAPPINESS
AN ACTION IS GOOD (RIGHT) IN SO

FAR AS IT PRODUCES THE GREATEST

HAPPINESS FOR THE GREATEST

NUMBER OF PEOPLE; BAD (WRONG)

INSOFAR AS IT PRODUCES MORE

HARM THAN BENEFIT FOR THE

GREATEST NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS

EVERYONE’S GOOD OR WELL-BEING MUST
BE CONSIDERED, FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL IS
TO COUNT JUST AS MUCH AS THE NEXT.
HENCE, THE MORE PEOPLE WHO PROFIT
FROM A PARTICULAR MORAL DECISION,
THE BETTER.
 THIS CAN BE CARRIED OUT BY
REMAINING STRICTLY IMPARTIAL AND
AS DISINTERESTED AS POSSIBLE.
ONE MUST BE PERSONALLY DETACHED
AND DISENGAGED.
 CONCEPT
(Goodness/rightness)
According to the ethical theory
an act is good when it gives
greatest happiness to the
greatest number of people.
In short, what action benefits
the most people is right.
A P A T I E N T C O M E S I N T O A H O S P I T A L W H O H A S B E E N IN A C A R
A C C I D E N T A N D S U S T A I N E D S E R I O U S I N J U R IE S . IF U N T R E A T E D , T H E
P A T I E N T W I L L S U R E L Y D I E ; H O W E V E R , T H E IN J U R IE S A R E
TREATABLE AND THE PATIENT CAN BE SAVED. THE DOCTOR
W H O I S T O O P E R A T E N O T I C E S T H A T T H E P A T IE N T IS A N O R G A N
D O N O R . T H E R E A R E F I V E O T H E R P E O P L E IN T H E H O S P IT A L W H O
NEED ORGANS, WILL DIE WITHOUT THE ORGANS, AND HAVE NO
O P P O R T U N I T Y T O R E C E I V E S U C H O R G A N S ( T H E U N D E R L Y IN G
ASSUMPTION IS THAT THEY ARE ALL MATCHES FOR THE ORGANS
O F T H E P A T I E N T W H O J U S T C A M E IN ) . T H E D O C T O R M U S T
C H O S E T O O P E R A T E O R N O T . F R O M A U T IL IT A R IA N P O IN T O F
V I E W , H E W I L L N O T T R E A T T H E P A T IE N T W H O S U F F E R E D R O M
T H E C A R A C C I D E N T , I N S T E A D H E W IL L O P E R A T E T H E F IV E
P E O P L E W H O I S I N N E E D O F H I S O R G A N S . H E S A C R IF IC E D T H E
LIFE OF ONE PERSON, TO SAVE FIVE PEOPLE.
JUST LIKE WHAT DUTERTE BELIEVES, ON HIS STAND IN DRUG WAR,
HE BELIEVES THAT KILLING THE DRUG ADDICT PEOPLE IS RIGHT FOR
THE WHOLE NATION OF THE PHILIPPINES, RATHER THAN
COMPROMISING THEM, THAT CAN AFFECT US THE CITIZENS IN THE
LONG RUN.
 CONCEPT
(Badness/wrongness)
A CONDUCTOR OF A TRAIN IS COMING UP TO A SWITCH
IN THE TRAIN TRACK. ON THE TRACK THE TRAIN IS
CURRENTLY SET ON, THERE ARE FIVE PEOPLE TIED DOWN.
ALL FIVE WILL DIE IF THE TRAIN CONTINUES DOWN THIS
TRACK. THE CONDUCTOR HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO
SWITCH THE TRACK TO A RAIL WHERE ONLY ONE PERSON
IS TIED. HOWEVER, IN SWITCHING THE TRACK, THE
CONDUCTOR IS DELIBERATELY MOVING THE TRAIN ON TO
THAT TRACK AND KILLING THE ONE PERSON. THIS IS
OPPOSED TO JUST ALLOWING THE SITUATION TO
CONTINUE (THE TRAIN CONTINUES ON ITS ORIGINAL
TRACK) AND FIVE PEOPLE HAPPEN TO DIE.
AS AN EXAMPLE, SUPPOSE THAT A BUSINESS NEEDS TO
INCREASE ITS EARNINGS-TO-EXPENSES RATIO. THERE ARE
VARIOUS WAYS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS GOAL: (1) LAY OFF 15%
OF THE EMPLOYEES, (2) FURTHER OPTIMIZE JUST-IN-TIME
MANUFACTURING TO REDUCE INVENTORY COSTS BY 40%, OR
(3) EXPAND MARKETING AND SALES EFFORTS WITH THE RESULT
OF AN 18% INCREASE IN REVENUES. YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE
IS THE POTENTIAL FOR ETHICAL QUESTIONS AROUND EACH OF
THESE THREE CHOICES. ATTRIBUTES TO CONSIDER INCLUDE
(A) COST AND/OR SAVINGS OF THE SOLUTION, (B)
COMPLEXITY OF IMPLEMENTATION, (C) IMPACT ON
CORPORATE REPUTATION, (D) IMPACT ON EMPLOYEE MORALE,
(E) IMPACT ON THOSE WHO ARE LAID OFF, AND (F) IMPACT ON
ADMINISTRATORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES.
 Learning
of Utilitarianism
In Utilitarianism a person who acts so that
the most people (including themselves)
benefit from their actions, even if it means
doing something considered "wrong."
Criticisms of
Utilitarianism
It opposes happiness to
usefulness.
IT IS ONLY CONCERNED WITH THE GREATEST HAPPINESS OF
THE GREATEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE - UNFORTUNATELY THIS
MISTAKE HAS EVEN BEEN MADE BY SOME WHO CALL
THEMSELVES UTILITARIANS. FROM THE VERY FIRST
FORMULATION BY BENTHAM, TO THE MORE RECENT
MODIFICATIONS BY SINGER, THE PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY HAS
CONCERNED ITSELF WITH ALL HAPPINESS, NO MATTER THE
IDENTITY OF THE BEING IN WHICH IT IS FELT. THE INTERESTS
OF NON-HUMAN ANIMALS MUST BE COUNTED EQUALLY WITH
THOSE OF HUMANS; AND IF WE ARE EVER VISITED BY UFOS,
WE MUST CONSIDER THE ALIEN'S INTERESTS TOO.
Point of View
Is the ethical theory acceptable
to your group? why
WORKING EFFICIENTLY
We, the group 7 are against the Utilitarianism Theory, because we

believed that Utilitarianism is not morally right. It doesn’t mean

that many people can benefit from the act is considered right or

viceversa. Each one of us have different perceptions when it

comes to what is right and wrong. Hence, there are times that only

we ourselves can know what is right or wrong in our position, It

may be right for us, but not for others, it may be wrong for others

but right for us. Also, not all act that gives you happiness is

always right because remember our source of happiness distinct

from each, it may vary from one person to another. Others gets

happiness from hurting people, others gets happiness from killing

people, so not all acts that gives happiness are morally right. We

cannot tell that an act is morally right or wrong only based on the

emotions or feelings, because what is right and wrong is relative

to us, and we base it in our culture and beliefs.