Republic of the Philippines

CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE – PASACAO CAMPUS

Sta. Rosa del Norte, Pasacao, Camarines Sur
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph

WEEK 4:

INTRODUCTION
―Can the ends justify the means?‖ Imagine that Zian is an unemployed poor man in Naga City.
Although he has no money, his family still depends on him; his unemployed wife (Sarah) is sick
and needs Php 25,000 for treatment, and their little children (Ann and Sam) have been thrown
out of school because they could not pay tuition fees (Php 25,000 for both of them). Zian has no
source of income and he cannot get a loan; even Kaila (his friend and a millionaire) has refused
to help him. From his perspective, there are only two alternatives: either he pays by stealing or
he does not. So, he steals Php 50,000 from Kaila in order to pay for Sarah’s treatment and to pay
the tuition fees of Ann and Sam. One could say that stealing is morally wrong. Therefore, we
will say that what Zian has done— stealing from Kaila—is morally wrong.

In this week we will try to explore realm of what is morally good and bad. The aim of this lesson
is to explain what utilitarian means, and then examine the strengths and weaknesses of
utilitarianism. The discussion is divided into three parts: the first part explains what utilitarianism
is, the second discusses the principles of utilitarianism, and the third explores whether
utilitarianism is persuasive and reasonable.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the discussion, the students are expected to:
a) discuss the principles of utilitarian ethics;
b) distinguish between two utilitarian models; and
c) apply utilitarianism in understanding and evaluating local and international scenarios.

PRE-COMPETENCE CHECKLIST
Directions: What is your opinion about Zian’s action? Do you think what he did was morally
good or bad? Explain your answer. Write your answer below.
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 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE – PASACAO CAMPUS
Sta. Rosa del Norte, Pasacao, Camarines Sur
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph

LEARNING RESOURCES
Pasco, M., Suarez, V., and Rodriguez, J. (2018). Ethics. C & E Publishing, Inc.

EXPLORE
Utilitarianism
 It is an ethical theory that argues for the goodness of pleasure and the determination of
right behaviour based on the usefulness of the action’s consequences.
 This means that pleasure is good and that the goodness of an action is determined by its
usefulness. Putting these ideas together, utilitarianism claims that one’s actions and
behaviour are good inasmuch as they are directed toward the experience of the greatest
pleasure over pain for the greatest number of persons.
 Jeremy Betham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) are two foremost
utilitarianism thinkers.
 Their system of ethics emphasizes the consequences of actions. This means that the
goodness or badness of an action is based on whether it is useful in contributing to a
specific purpose for the greatest number of people.
 Utilitarianism is consequentialist. This means that the moral value of actions and decisions
is based solely or greatly on the usefulness of their consequences; it is the usefulness of
results that determines whether the action or behaviour is good or bad.

The Principle of Utility

 In the book of An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789), Jeremy
Bentham begins by arguing that our actions are governed by two ―sovereign masters‖ –
which he calls pleasure and pain.
 These ―masters‖ are given to us by nature to help us determine what is good and bad and
what ought to be done and not; they fasten our choices to their throne.
 The principle of utility is about our subjection to these sovereign masters: pleasure and
pain. On one hand, the principle refers to the motivation of our actions as guided by our
avoidance of pain and our desire for pleasure.
 On the other hand, the principle also refers to pleasure as good if, and only if, they produce
more happiness than unhappiness.
 Having identified the tendency for pleasure and the avoidance of pain as the principle of
utility, Bentham equates happiness with pleasure.
 Mill supports Bentham’s principle of utility. He reiterates moral good as happiness and,
consequently, happiness as pleasure. Mill clarifies that what makes people happy is
intended pleasure and what makes us unhappy is the privation of pleasure.
 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE – PASACAO CAMPUS
Sta. Rosa del Norte, Pasacao, Camarines Sur
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph

 Mill argues that we act and do things because we find them pleasurable and we avoid
doing things because they are pleasurable.
 Bentham and Mill characterized moral values as utility and understood it as whatever
produced happiness or pleasure and the avoidance of pain. The next step is to understand
the nature of pleasure and pain to identify a criterion for distinguishing pleasures and to
calculate the resultant pleasure or pain.
o Bentham's utilitarianism was criticised for being a philosophy "worthy of only
swine". This is because he made no distinction between the pleasures experienced
by beasts and those experienced by humans.
o Mill acknowledged this, and to sidestep the criticism, he considered both quantity
and quality pleasure. Mill distinguished between higher pleasures (those that
require mental faculties that only educated humans could obtain) and lower
pleasures (bodily pleasures that both animals and humans could experience).
o For Mill, higher pleasures are more valuable than lower pleasures, because of
their "intrinsic superiority". Though Mill's theory is more respectful of human
nature, it makes pleasure even more difficult to calculate as we now have to
consider unquantifiable quality of pleasure, as well as the quantity.
o Bentham considered only quantity of pleasure, but Mill considered both
quantity and quality of pleasure.
o Bentham's theory applied the principle of utility to individual acts and situations
directly. This meant that some abhorrent acts were permitted.
o Mill developed rule utilitarianism to avoid this. Mill suggested that the principle
of utlity should be used to determine moral rules which govern utility. E.g. Do not
kill people (as killing people tends to lower net utility).
o Bentham's theory was act utilitarianism, but Mill's was rule utilitarianism.

DISCUSSION BOARD
1. What is the meaning of Utilitarianism?
2. What is the principle of utility?
3. What is the difference between Bentham’s theory and Mill’s?

POST-COMPETENCY CHECKLIST
Directions: Read the case study below and reflect whether the case is moral good or bad in the
lens of utilitarianism. Write your answer in any word processing software (MS Word,
Google Docs, etc.) and send it in our VLP with the file: “Your Last Name” – Case
Study 1. You may use the rubrics below as a guide on how you will be graded.
 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE – PASACAO CAMPUS
Sta. Rosa del Norte, Pasacao, Camarines Sur
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph

Case: Blood for Sale

Peter was a successful stockbroker in Naga City. He observed that in the Philippines, the blood
used for transfusions mostly comes from donation from well-wishers. However, since most people are not
willing to donate, there was a blood deficit in the country.
He considered this scenario as an opportunity for a profitable business, and thus together with
some colleagues, they formed Plasma International. The company mainly deals with the location,
purchase, supply, and sale of blood to individuals and organizations that need it for transfusion.
During the initial stages of the company’s operation, the company bought contaminated blood
from alcoholics and drug addicts as only a few people in the country were willing to exchange their blood
for money. However, the organization later found a village in Africa where people were more willing to
sell their blood to the company at prices as low as 100 pesos a pint.
The company made deals with local chiefs for purchase of blood from people in the villages. The
company resold the blood in the Philippines at prices that were ten times higher than the purchase price.
In the Philippine, about forty percent of people donate blood to build up credit so that they do not buy
blood when they need it later.
In comparison, the National Health Service in the Great Britain relies solely on blood donations.
The justification for the British system is that blood is something that can dictate whether a person lives
or dies. Denying that person blood, especially if voluntary donors offer it, because the person cannot
afford the blood is wrong and thus immoral.

In the lens of utilitarianism, do you thinking selling blood is morally good or bad?

Criteria Excellent (10)
The case study explains the
student’s own thinking and
Reflective
learning processes, as well as
Thinking
implications for future
learning.
The case study is an in-depth
analysis of learning
experience, the value of
Analysis derived learning to self or
other, and the enhancement
of the student’s appreciation
for the discipline.
The case study articulates
multiple connections between
Making this learning experience and
Connections content from other courses
past learning, life experiences
and/or future goals.
Very Satisfactory (8) Satisfactory (5) Fair (3)
The case study explains the The case study attempts to The case study
student’s thinking about his/her demonstrate thinking about does not address
own learning processes. learning but is vague and/or the student’s
unclear about the personal thinking and/or
learning process. learning.
The case study is an analysis of The case study attempts to The case study
the learning experience and the analyse the learning experience does not move
value of the derived learning to but the value of the learning to beyond a
self or others. the student or others is description of the
vague/unclear. learning
experience.
The case study articulates The case study attempts to The case study
connections between this articulate connection between this does not articulate
learning experience and content learning experience and content any connection to
from other courses, past from other courses, past learning other learning
learning experiences, and/or experiences, personal goals, but experiences.
future goals. the connection is vague/unclear.

The case study has
sophisticated arrangement of
Organization
content with evident and/or
subtle transitions.
The case study has functional The case study has confusing or The case study has
arrangement of content that inconsistent with or without minimal control of
sustain a logical order with attempts at transition. content
some evidence of transition. arrangement.