Act Utilitarianism

Ethical theory - Act Utilitarianism: Jeremy Bentham

Utilitarianism - what is it

• Essentially hedonistic because it is concerned with maximising happiness or pleasure

• Values happiness or pleasure as the greatest good, and the basis for all ethical action

• Broadly secular theory. Discarded religious tradition and social convention, and was more concerned with legal and social reform.

Utilitarianism - what type of theory

• Teleological - as it concerned with the end result of actions in terms of the goal of bringing pleasure - produce the ‘greatest happiness for the greatest number’.

• Consequentialist - as it judges actions to be right or wrong based on the consequences that actions bring.

• Moral Relativist - as it does not hold that an action is inherently good or evil.

Utilitarianism - Principle of Utility

Principle that one ought to act to produce maximum happiness and minimise pain.

Utilitarianism - Principle of Utility

• Utility means usefulness.

• This Principle means that humans seek pleasure and avoid pain.

• Right actions maximise happiness and minimise pain.

Utilitarianism - Principle of Utility: The law

• The law should be governed by the principle of utility.

• The law should work towards the goal of maximising pleasure and minimising pain. If a law or action does not do this, then it is wrong.

• An act should only be required by law if it promotes a greater balance of pleasure over pain when weighed against the alternatives.

• Laws can be broken if greater happiness is achieved by doing so.

Utilitarianism - Principle of Utility development

• The Principle of Utility developed into the ‘Greatest Happiness principle’

“Greatest happiness for the greatest number.”

• The most useful actions are those which produce the most happiness for all.

• We should be concerned about others happiness because our happiness is bound up with theirs. This satisfied Bentham’s needs for social justice.

Utilitarianism - Greatest Happiness Principle

• Concerned that the ‘Greatest Happiness Principle’ could lead to the sacrifice of the minority and believed it was better to approximate the happiness of all members of the community.

• The ultimate aim of all moral actions is to pursue pleasure and avoid pain.

Utilitarianism - Greatest Happiness Principle

• He observed that all creatures are motivated by pleasure and pain.

• Pleasure is the sole element of good, and is the one thing by which all actions can be judged.

Quantitative approach to happiness:

• Means that he was more interested in the amount of happiness that is achieved in an action rather than differentiating between different types of happiness and establishing the best quality happiness.

Utilitarianism - Greatest Happiness Principle

Whether or not a person is punished for an action which produces pain is something that needs to be weighed up according the circumstances.

The sensation of pleasure or pain is subjective to the individual.

Pleasure and pain can sometimes be mixed together in the same action.

• He was not concerned in establishing which types of pleasure and pain were most significant.

• He was more concerned with quantity of both.

Greatest happiness principle - Quote: Bentham

“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters; pain and pleasure.”

Utilitarianism - Hedonic Calculus: what is it

The 7 criteria by which he attempts to measure happiness and determine whether or not an act is right.

• Measure the quality of pleasure or pain that is created by an action.

Utilitarianism - Hedonic Calculus: what are they

1. Intensity

2. Duration

3. Certainty

4. Propinquity

5. Fecundity

6. Purity

7. Extent

Hedonic Calculus - intensity

1. Intensity:

• The strength of the sensation of pleasure or pain that is felt by the people involved.

Hedonic calculus - Duration

2. Duration:

   • How long the pleasure or pain will last. The longer it will last, the greater its value in the calculations

Hedonic Calculus - Certainty

3. Certainty:

   • How sure we can be that the pleasure or pain will follow the action.

Hedonic Calculus - Propinquity

4. Propinquity:

• How soon it will be before the pleasure or pain will be experienced.

Hedonic Calculus - Fecundity

5. Fecundity:

• The likelihood that the act will lead to more sensations of the same kind.

Hedonic Calculus - Purity

6. Purity:

• How free the act is from being contaminated by sensations of the opposite kind.

Hedonic Calculus - Extent

7. Extent:

• How many people will be affected by the action.

Utilitarianism - Hedonic Calculus: Quote

“Sum up all the values of all the pleasures on the one side and those of all the pains on the other.”

Utilitarianism - Hedonic Calculus: what does it do

Provided a clear methodology for calculating pleasure and pain in each action:

• The values of both pleasure and pain are added up to see, on balance, whether an action is good or not.

• A good act will have a greater quality of pleasure than pain.

Utilitarianism - Hedonic Calculus: the law

The purpose of the law is to:

• increase the total amount of happiness in a community

• reduce everything that diminishes pleasure by rewarding good behaviour and punishing bad behaviour.

Utilitarianism - Hedonic Calculus: the law

He made the point that punishment in itself causes pain and so is to be avoided wherever possible.

Principle of Utility only justifies punishment if the pain caused is out balanced by a greater reduction in pain overall.

Where punishment cannot deter or prevent crime, it is pointless.

Utilitarianism - Bentham on the Hedonic Calculus

• He lived in a society that had rules and laws but he recognised that they were not always useful in producing happiness.

• He proposed legal reforms that aimed to enable greater happiness, but he did not advocate the law should be abandoned altogether.

Utilitarianism - Bentham on the Hedonic Calculus

• He recognised that it was not necessarily practical to apply every element of the hedonic calculus on every single occasion.

• He advocated that people should be mindful of the criteria of the hedonic calculus when making moral and legal decisions so that maximum happiness for individuals and the community can be produced.

Utilitarianism - Justice

Justice is the principle of fairness, righteousness and equability.

It also includes the provision of law.

Utilitarianism - Justice: McCloskey

H. J McCloskey - Sheriff Scenario

Argues that utilitarianism and justice are at odds with the ‘sheriff scenario’.

Shows how act utilitarianism results in justice, however, it may not be justice that fits with our contemporary society that we have today.

Based on the principle of segregationist USA.

Utilitarianism - Justice: McCloskey

• Presented the example of a sheriff who had to choose whether to prosecute a black man who he knew was not guilty, but the public believed he was. If he prosecuted, he would punish an innocent man but he would prevent a very dangerous riot from occurring.

• The riots would result in increased racial tensions and loss of life.

• If the Sheriff was an act utilitarian, he could let the innocent man hang.