Ethics 3D WR- Act Utilitarianism

Key Scholar

Jeremy Bentham

Influenced by:

J.B Priestly- On Governement “the greatest good for the greatest number”, created a Eureka moment

Hedonism- Ancient Greek philosphy looking at creating the most happiness

Response to Industrial revolution

Time of mass migration to overpopulated areas, poverty, disease, alcoholism

Bentham was disgusted by the law because he felt that it was more about making money than helping people

He was also concerened about the conditions of prisons and hospitals

Bentham believed that the established church was not doing enough to create a more equal society

Established church quote

“The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate, God made them high and lowly, And ordered their estate” 

Relativist 

Should act based upon the situation not based on absolute rules

Teleological

Focussed on the purpose of the action, in this case, happiness 

Consequentialist

Focussed on the end result of the action, in this case trying to produce the greatest good for the greatest number 

Principle of Utility

The greatest good for the greatest number

Utility

Usefulness

Good

defined in terms of pleasure or happiness

Quantative

Focused on the amount of happiness

Sovreign Masters

Pleasure and pain

Hedonic calculus 

How humans can calculate the most utilitarian course of action 

Acronym: DRPRICE

Hedonic calculus- D- Duration

The length of time the pleasure lasts 

Hedonic calculus- R- Remoteness

how near is the pleasure to you

Hedonic caculus- P- Purtity

The degree to which the pleasure is free of pain

Hedonic calculus- R- Richness

will it lead to more pleasure

Hedonic calculus- I- Intensity

How strong the pleasure is

Hedonic calculus- C- Certainty

How sure can you be that the action will lead to the most pleasure

Hedonic calculus- E- Extent

the number of people able to experience pleasure/pain from the action

Happiness to Bentham 

Everyone has the equal right to happiness and all pleasures are equal 

Pleasure the flower seller gets from her weekly bottle of gin is the same as the pleasure an upper class couple gets from going to the opera 

Pleasure is equal quote- Bentham 

“The quantity of pleasure being equal, push-pin is as good as poetry” 

How an action conforms to the principle of utility

-Have to be done

-not be something that ought not to be done

-be right that it be done

-be a right action

-not be a wrong action

-increase happiness of the community more than it lessens it

Example for the application of the hedonic calculus 

Pretend you were a doctor and you were driving to deliver a baby for a young mother who was having complications and knew he could save her, but while driving saw a car crash with a young man and an elderly gentleman, and you discover that the young man is the pregant lady’s husband. You debate whether you should stop to help with the car crash even through you don’t know the extent of their injuries or if you can actually save them.

Problems with quantitative value

Can’t judge morality on the amount of happiness it causes, you can never know how much happiness an action can bring, in the doctor example you can never know how long the child/ other people will live

problems with predictive value 

We’re not omniscient meaning we can’t know the actions made will bring happiness 

In the doctor example, cna’t predict the child will grow up to be happy and that the old man will die, there are lots of “mights” that have to be taken into account 

problems with what counts as pleasure 

Pure emotional and bodily pleasures are quantifiable but we can’t just only want to increase that type of pleasure e.g. tooth extraction is painful but is beneficial if medically required.