UTILITARIANISM

do whatever produces the greatest good for the greatest number.

 It is derived from the Latin words UTILEBONUM or ITILIS which means USEFULNESS .

Considered the most important consequentialist.

It makes utility or usefulness a norm of morality.

TWO MAIN PROPONENTS OF UTILITARIANISM

JEREMY BENTHAM ( 1748 -1832 )

He was disgusted by the way the legal and political professions used their power to oppress those beneath then in social order. He published his first book entitled NonNon-sense on Stilts He create laws not just for the convenient of the elite but also for the best interest of whole community.

BENTHAM S ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY

Utility means that property in any object which tends to produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, good or happiness. An action is considered right or wrong depending on the consequence. Utilitarian principle disregard the importance of motives because motives is known only to the person who has it. The greatest good is the greatest pleasure of greatest number.

TWO MAIN PROPONENTS OF UTILITARIANISM

JOHN STUART MILL ( 1806 1873 )

MILL S ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY

An act that cause promotes happiness is moral and that which cause pain is immoral. Act only if the action will promote the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of persons.

GENERAL CRITERIA FOR WHAT MAKES UP HAPPINESS

Positive definition: HAPPINESS is anything that is pleasurable to the greater number of people. Negative definition: HAPPINESS is the absence of pain.

TWO FORMS OF PLEASURE ACCORDING TO MILL

PHYSICAL PLEASURE
Is the sensual indulgences to bodily gratification. ( e.g. sexual intercourse, eating, drinking, dancing etc. It is the lower form of pleasure and considered by Mill as animalistic or beastly.

MENTAL PLEASURE
Refers to intellectual, spiritual and moral pleasures. ( e.g. man's noble feelings, imagination, and moral sentiments.) It is superior and is generally more difficult to achieve and pursuing them gives dignity to a man. Pleasure of this form includes enjoyment of freedom of the will, intellect, social recognition, felling of self worth and respect. Happiness as pleasure.

Criticisms on Utilitarianism Business Application

CASE STUDY: CONFIDENTIALITY

"You are employed as a technical communicator by Caduceus Company, a major provider of software systems for the health care industry. Currently, you are working on help-desk instructions for a new software system that operates from a database accumulated from all the records of all the hospitals, clinics, HMOs, laboratories, and physicians in your state. These records carry a good deal of highly personal information on patients and are, of course, private and confidential. The revelation of some of this information to the wrong people could be seriously damaging for those patients. Improper release of this information could, for example, limit their employability, damage their reputations, or restrict their access to health insurance at affordable rates. Part of your job, in fact is to ensure that confidentiality is maintained by all who use the system while preventing access to those who might misuse it. Just yesterday, you learned of some shocking information. While observing the typical daily operation of the help-desk staff in resolving users' questions, you recognized the name of one of the clients called up on a screen. It is the name of your cousin's fianc, and the entry indicates that he has tested positive for HIV and has received counseling about HIV and AIDS from a local clinic. You and your cousin are very close, and you are certain that she is unaware that her intended spouse has tested positive for HIV. The marriage is only a few weeks away. She would be highly endangered after marriage but also in their current relations without this knowledge.

QUESTION:
Do you reveal this information to your cousin but violate the privacy and confidentiality that you have sworn yourself to and are legally obliged to maintain? Or do you keep the information to yourself but jeopardize the health and life of your cousin by preserving the deception by her fianc.