CLASSIFICATION OF ETHICAL THEORIES III

Utilitarian/consequential theories
Nature of utilitarian theories
Utilitarian and Justice
Purpose of Utilitarian theories in peace building
Impact of utilitarian theories in society
 Competences

The student;
• Defines utilitarianism
• Identifies proponents of utilitarianism
• Describes different types of utilitarianism
• Explains the differences and similarities in the various types of utilitarianism
• Examines the weaknesses of different types of utilitarianism
• Defines justice
• Explains implications of utilitarianism in peace building.
• Demonstrates the knowledge of utilitarianism in public healthcare
 UTILITARIANISM

• Utilitarianism’ is ethical theory which states that rightness and wrongness of actions is
determined by the goodness and badness of their consequences.
• It holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the
greatest number. It is the only moral framework that can be used to justify military force or
war.
• Utilitarianism was a social reform movement and an ethical theory, which held that the
morality of an act should be judged solely on the basis of its results. Thus, it was more a
political theory than an ethical one in the true sense of the term.
• From the political point of view, it was traditionally understood, as a social reform movement
which aimed to improve the living conditions of the poor and unfortunate in society. So it
attempted to combine individual hedonism with social hedonism with a view to creating a
civilized society where both individual as well as social good could be achieved.
 Cont..

• By observing a fore mentioned implications of the term ‘utilitarianism’ it is clear

that it is an ethical theory which maintains that the moral rightness or

wrongness of an action is to be judged by its results or consequences.

Consequences of an act determine its value. If an act produces happiness of

the people on a large scale, it is morally right; if it produces unhappiness on a

large scale, it is said to be morally wrong.

• However, the result of an act may be actual or probable. An act may produce

immediate pleasure or happiness or it may produce happiness in remote future.

So the act that produces happiness in general is considered as morally right.

.
 Cont..
• The utilitarian ethics was advocated by Francis Hudson in 1775. But the
most famous proponents of utilitarianism include Jeremy Bentham (1748-
1832), the founder of the British Utilitarian School of philosophy, James Mill
(1773-1836), and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). This group was credited for
making changes in the political and social systems in Britain.
• Utilitarians conceived their ethics as an attempt to lay down an objective
principle for determining when action was right or wrong. This is a proverb
which they call the principle of utility.
 Cont..

• According to this principle, “action is right in so far as it tends to produce the

greatest happiness for the greatest number”.
• Bentham and Mills have all interpreted this principle as a form of hedonism
because it identifies pleasure with happiness.
• The purpose of utilitarian ethics is to promote human welfare by minimizing
harm and maximising the good for the greatest number of people.
 Utilitarianism has three essential elements:

1. Whether an action is right or wrong is determined solely by its

consequences.

2. The value of the consequences of an action is assessed in terms of the

amount of happiness or well-being caused.

3. In assessing the total happiness caused to a number of people, equal

amounts of happiness are to have equal value, no one person's happiness
having greater value that another's.
 Nature of utilitarian theories
• This is an ethical doctrine which holds that everyone ought always to
perform that action or follow that moral rule or make decisions that shall
bring about the greatest good or benefit or happiness for the greatest
number of people concerned.
• According to utilitarianism a good law is that which yields the greatest good
to the majority of people. Its proponents are Jeremy Benthan, J.S Mill. They
observed that our lives desire only good things. People who manage society
have capacity to generate happiness or benefit to the greatest number
concerned.
 Types of utilitarianism

The theory of utilitarianism is sub divided in to three main parts:

(i)Act utilitarianism

(ii) Rule utilitarianism

(iii) Preference utilitarianism

 . Act utilitarianism

• Act utilitarianism is where rightness or wrongness of an action is determined only

based on the consequences of the action. For when pharmaceutical companies
release drugs that have been governmentally approved but with known minor effect
because the drug is able to help more people than are bothered by the side effects.
• According to this position, individual actions are to be judged right or wrong if their
consequences tend to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of
people. Thus act- utilitarianism only considers the consequence of an action and
not the nature of the act itself.
• Decision making should not be restricted by absolute moral rules such as those
against killing, stealing, adultery etc. Since every situation is different and people
and organizations are different.
• In the view of act utilitarianism those acts or decisions that seem to be immoral
would be considered moral depending on their utility to those concerned.
 Criticism/weaknesses
1. It is extremely difficult for us to be sure of what will turn out to be good
consequences, because it may turn out not to be good for others and it is
apparently difficult if not impossible that you can move out to ask every
individual person to know what is good for him or her before you decide.

2. Sometimes we make decisions which will affect many people and the
coming generations. What would be the effect of our decision in the future?

3. Strictly following act utilitarianism may lead to morally wrong actions in view
of their possible utility e.g. enslaving a minority category of people if the
majority derives utility out of it. The theory can lead to immoral act.
4. Act utilitarianism leads to the punishment of the innocent minority
 Cont…
5. It is not possible for us to assess each moral situation a new all the time
especially in the area of management in the public affairs. It is therefore
important for us to appreciate the significance of moral rules in our moral
judgments after all there is a lot to that is similar about human beings and
their behavior, hence justifying some rules to quid practice.
 Rule utilitarianism:

• It maintains that an action is right if it is in agreement with a rule of conduct

that has been validated by the principle of utility and wrong, if otherwise. For
example, when faced with multiple simultaneous patients in the emergency
department it is important to have a way of reaching decision quickly about
which patient to attend first.
• Rule utilitarianism is important because it saves us from the problem of all
the time having to assess a new, the likely consequence of each action.
• Rule utilitarianism recommends that every society, organization profession,
institutions should have a set of moral rules or codes that can be used in
moral education of the uninitiated.
 Cont…

• Those who subscribe to rule utilitarianism are of the

opinion that it is dangerous to leave moral decisions to
individuals without providing them with some moral
guidance and without some moral order in society.
 Criticisms /Weaknesses of rule utilitarianism

1. The rule utilitarianism is unrealistic since it is impossible for us in life to

have moral rules which have no exception, since circumstances in life vary
e.g. moral rule that you must always tell the truth. Must you always tell the
truth even if it hurts.

2. Rule utilitarianism simply calls upon the people to follow moral rules ignoring

cultivating moral motivations that ought to guide us in following these rules.

3. We need to appreciate that many times in our lives, moral rules do clash with

each other and one finds himself in dilemma of deciding which moral rule to

follow or not to follow. It follows that in such situations of dilemma act

utilitarianism is the one that shall prevail.

 Difference between act utilitarianism and rule utilitariansim

1. Act utilitarianism is the belief that an action becomes morally right when it produces the greatest
good for the greatest number of people while rule utilitarianism is the belief that the moral
correctness of an action depends on the correctness of the rules that allows it to achieve the
greatest good.
2. Act utilitarianism is the belief that it is fine to break a rule as long as it brings a greater good,
while rule utilitarianism is a belief that even if a rule cannot bring a greater good, breaking it will
not either.
3. Act utilitarianism looks at the consequences of each individual act and calculates utility each
times the act is performed while rule utilitarianism looks at the consequences of having everyone
follow a particular rule and calculates the overall utility of accepting or rejecting the rule.
Similarity
• Both look at the consequence of an action that decides the rightness or wrongness of that action
and not the nature of the act itself.
• Both act and rule utilitarians agree that our overall aim in evaluating actions should be to create
the best results possible but they differ about how to do that.
 Preference utilitarianism

• It is a utilitarian theory that takes into account the preferences of all those
individuals in a particular course of action.
• This holds the understanding that one should always take in to account
preference of the people to be affected by the decision or action to be
performed. It calls upon the people that shall be affected by the decision or
action to express what is considered to be the right or the good for them.
• Preference utilitarianism does not allow the actor or decision maker to
impose his perspective of the good or right on the other people. It demands
that the actor/decision maker consult those who are going to be affected by
his decision before making the decision.
 Criticisms:
1. Although preference utilitarianism allows preferences to be
expressed in view of avoiding dictating on others, what we consider
to be best for their well-being, it should be noted in the first place
that ultimately the final decision will be made in favor of the
majority. This will lead to the dictatorship of the majority.

2. Since preference utilitarianism considers the majority perspective

as the basis of decision making it may lead us in to a fallacy of
assuming that the majority are always right, hence ignoring the
views of the minority who may actually be having the truth. There
could be a manipulated majority where people are convinced to
accept.
 Cont…
3. Preference utilitarianism ignores the fact that there are occasions in
life when we have to make emergency decisions most especially in
the management of state affairs without seeking the citizen’s
preferences. In such circumstances we may have to do on act
utilitarianism.

4. Preference utilitarianism assumes too much from the people. It does

not take in to account that some people are ignorant of their needs
and that if we relied on people in order for us to make decisions, we
can make decisions which may not promote effective well-being of
the people themselves. Considering this it is important that decision
maker out of his good or bad act follow the act utilitarianism and
makes his personal decision.
 Utilitarian and Justice
• Justice concerns what is legally right or wrong. Generally speaking, justice
is ethical and one can assume that doing what is ethical is legal.
• Justice cares about people’s rights and reacts when those rights are
violated.
• Another definition of justice according to Wikipeadia is that, justice is a
concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, natural law, religion
or equity along with the punishment of the breach of the said ethics or code
of law.
• It is the act of being just or fair. For john Rawls justice is the first virtue of
social institutions, as truth is of systems thought. It is distinct benevolence,
charity, mercy, generosity or compassion.
 TYPES OF JUSTICE

The following are the types of justice.

1. Cumulative justice

2. Distributive justice

3. Organizational justice

4. Restorative justice/Compensatory

5. Social justice

6. Spatial justice
 Types of justice
• Restorative/compensatory: This requires the wrong doer to restore the
innocent victim to the extent possible or to the same or similar condition
the victim was in before the wrong was committed. E.g. paying to repair
damaged property, paying hospital bills, returning stolen shoes etc.
• Punitive or penal justice: This requires punishing the criminal as a
matter of social morality for the wrong committed.eg jail time, fines, loss
of driver’s license, a criminal record or even capital punishment.
• Retributive justice: Regulate proportionate response to crime proven
by lawful evidence so that punishment is justly imposed and considered
as morally correct and fully deserved e.g. the law of retaliation in military.
It says that reciprocity should be equal to the wrong suffered e.g. life for
life, wound for wound.
 Distributive justice

• This is directed to the proper allocation of things, wealth, power reward, and
respect among different people. The theory claims that everyone should get
what they deserve. The theory of meritocracy, wealth and social status
should be distributed to match individual merit e.g. talent and hard work.
 Similarities between utilitarianism and justice

1. Both utilitarianism and justice look at the wellbeing of people in the society.

2. Both utilitarianism and justice result into development in society

3. Both bring about happiness in society

4. Both bring about peace in society

5. Both can result into unfair or irrational decisions

6. Both involve making decision to solve chaos

 Differences between utilitarianism and justice

1. Utilitarianism focuses on the majority of people in the society while justice focuses on a

particular person or group of people involved.

2. Utilitarianism caters for the greatest number of people concerned while justice considers

fairness between parties in society

3. Justice involves telling the truth because the fairness is shown between parties

concerned while utilitarianism may not always involve telling the truth for example rule

utilitarianism states it is impossible for us to always in life to have moral rules which no

expectation since circumstances in life at time vary

4. Utilitarianism involves consulting those who are affected by the decision before making

the decision while justice does not involve consulting those affected but decisions are

made according to fairness

5. Utilitarianism maintains it that people ought always to perform that action that shall bring

greatest happiness to a greatest number of people whereas justice deals with moral

righteousness , natural law, equality, nationality and involves punishment for breach of

the pre-stated code of law.

 PURPOSE OF UTILITARIAN THEORIES IN PEACE BUILDING

1. Utilitarianism ethical theory recognizes interest of all. Act

utilitarianism provides that decision making should not be restricted
by absolute moral rule e.g. those against killing since every
situation, people and organization are different. This reduces
conflicts hence promoting peace among people.

2. Promotion of fairness. By the fact that utilitarianism theory works

on the principle of goodness for majority of people, it promotes
fairness for the majority because it benefits most of the people
regardless of personal feeling
 Cont…
3. Utilitarianism therefore rejects such moral codes since they believe

that the purpose of morality is to make life better by increasing the

amount of good things in a community. This brings peace since

utilitarian’s thinking is that what makes morality justifiable is it’s

positive contribution to the humanity.

4. Utilitarianism ethical theory is a straight forward theory that is based

on the single principle of minimizing pain and maximizing pleasure

and happiness. Therefore, an individual or a group can easily attain

a peaceful state if they capitalize on maximizing happiness and

pleasure as stated by utilitarianism theory since it is a system

which aims at creating happier life for individuals and groups

5. Being a theory that does not appear to be subjective or require the
acceptance of any prior beliefs about the nature of the world or
religion, the utilitarianism ethical theory can be used as a unifying
factor across different parties, religions because its moral
discussions are acceptable across different religions and cultures, a
common understanding can be achieved since the aim of creating
good things or happier life is acceptable by all regardless or culture,
religion or party.
 Cont…
6. Utilitarianism plays a role in democracy. at times, it is looked at as
the moral side of democracy since it suggests the greatest good for
the greatest number. A peaceful state can be achieved once the
good of the majority are achieved. For example, it is the basis for
the health care system. Care is provided to improve the health of
the population, and if a lot of money is spent on the health service,
people are healthier, happier and more peaceful.

7. Utilitarianism also gives us a valuable principle of empathy

( “Standing in someone else’s shoes”). Peace can easily be attained
basing on this principle since you will be presented with an
opportunity to understand and feel why someone behaves the way
they are doing. Therefore, with this theory, it is always important to
think about other’s interests or preferences as long as one also
includes behaving justly hence peace prevails.
 Cont..
• Utilitarianism theory relates to actions which can be observed in the
real world for example charity which promotes happiness for people
and this is seen ethically upright and this makes people to attain a
peaceful state of mind, how ever the utilitarianism theory condemns
act of cruelty as bad since it causes unhappiness to who ever is
being subjected to.
How is utilitarianism applied in the work place?