GROUP 2

UTILITARIANISM
CHAPTER 2

ABCOMM 1201
 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF UTILITARIAN

CHAPTER ETHICS
Discuss the basic principles of utilitarian
ethics;

OBJECTIVES:
QUANTITATIVE MODEL &
QUALITATIVE MODEL
distinguish between two utilitarian models;
the quantitative model of Jeremy Bentham
and the qualitative model of John stuart Mill;
and

APPLYING UTILITARIANISM
apply utilitarianism in understanding and
evaluating local and international scenarios.
 January 25, 2015
the 84th Special Action Force (SAF) conducted a
police operation at Tukanalipao, Mamasapano in
Maguindanao.

OPLAN-EXODUS
RA 4200 (ANTI-WIRE

TAPPING LAW)
WHAT IS It is an ethical theory that argues for
the goodness of pleasure and the

UTILITARIANISM? determination of right behavior based

on the usefulness of the action's
consecquences.
JEREMY
BENTHAM
February 15, 1748 - June 6, 1832

BORN IN LONDON, ENGLAND. HE WAS THE

TEACHER OF JAMES MILL, FATHER OF JOHN
STUART MILL. BENTHAM WROTE ABOUT THE
GREATEST HAPPINESS PRINCIPLE OF ETHICS
AND WAS KNOWN FOR A SYSTEM OF PENAL
MANAGEMENT CALLED PANOPTICON.
JOHN STUART
MILL
May 20, 1806 - May 8, 1873

BORN IN PENTONVILLE, LONDON, UNITED

KINGDOM. HE WAS THE SON OF JAMES MILL, A
FRIEND DISCIPLE OF JEREMY BENTHAM.
BASIC PRINCIPLE
OF
UTILITARIANISM Pleasure or happiness is the only thing
01 that truly has intrinsic value.
Actions are right insofar as they promote
02 Happiness. Wrong insolar as they produce
unhappiness.

03 Everyone's Happiness counts equally.

MODELS OF
UTILITARIANISM
01 Jeremy Bentham's Model of Utilitarianism

02 John Stuart Mill's Model of Utilitarianism

JEREMY
BENTHAM
"Happiness is simply the absence of
pain."

"FELICIFIC" CALCULUS

Measures the degree of happiness or

pleasure that a specific action may produce.
also called utility calculus or hedonistic
calculus.
It includes intensity, duration, certainty,
propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent.
FELICIFIC
CALCULUS
FORMULA
Bentam stated that BALANCE is the basis of the
morality of an action.

HAPPINESS - PAIN = BALANCE

HAPPINESS PAIN
MORALLY RIGHT MORALLY WRONG
JOHN STUART
MILL
Mill disagrees with Bentham.
We cannot calculate the amount
of pleasure or pain that an act
produces.
Basis of morality is the majority of
the people that attains hapiness.
ACT
UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarian principle should be
applied to a particular act in a
situation or circumstances.

The basis of the morality of an

action is the ACT itself.
Rule Utilitarianism
The principle at issue should be
used to test moral rules, and
then such rules can be utilized in
judging what is right and wrong
under the circumstances.

An act is morally right if it

conforms to a justified moral
rule.
 ACT AND RULE
UTILITARIANISM
Act Utilitarianism:
Ex. condemning a terrorist
"what possible good or evil resultd from this act?"

Rule Utilitarianism:
"is a rule or law that condemns terrorist to death?"
 JUSTICE AND
MORAL RIGHTS
LEGAL
RIGHTS
- recognized in law
MORAL
RIGHTS
rights that are based on principles of
fairness and justices.
TWO TYPES OF JUSTICES
ACCORDING TO JOHN
STUART MILL.

 SUPPOSED
COMMON TO ALL
A RULE OF
MANKIND AND
CONDUCT
INTENDED FOR

THEIR GOOD.

IS A DESIRE THAT

SENTIMENTS PUNISHMENT MAY BE

SUFFERED BY THOSE WHO
INFRINGE THE LAW.
SUMMARY Bentham and Mill see moral good as pleasure, not merely
self-gratification, also the greatest happiness principle or the
greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. We
are compelled to do whatever increases pleasure and
decreases pain to most number of persons, counting each as
one and none as more than one. ln determining the greatest
happiness for the greatest number of people, there is no
distinction. Bentham and Mill. Bentham suggests his felicific
calculus, a framework for quantifying moral valuation. Mill
provides a criterion for comparative pleasures. He thinks that
persons who experience two different types of pleasures
generally prefer higher intellectual pleasures base sensual
ones.

Mill provides an adequate discourse on rights despite it being

mistakenly argued to be the weakness of Utilitarianism. He
argues that rights are socially protected interests that are
justified by their contribution to the greatest happiness
principle. However, he also claims that in extreme
circumstances, respect for individual rights can be
overridden tp the better welfare especially in circumstances
of conflict valuation
THANK YOU!