RP- Religion and Ethics: Utilitarianism

principles of utilitarianism

• based on what one ought to do (consequentialism)

• what makes a good outcome (aggregation meaning the net outcome is good for everyone)

• what is good for an individual (differed in different theories as they define goodness differently but all comes under term of utility)

Bentham’s motivations

• inspired by the enlightenment era and advancement of science during this time, impressed by empiricist epistemology and he used this to develop his moral science

• concerned with the legal system and wanted to make a system that was rationally justified and based on objective moral system

Bentham beliefs on human nature

• characterised human nature as motivate by pain or pleasure

• believed this was absolute and any other explanation broke down into pain or pleasure

Phycological hedonism

• determines what we shall do

• suggests all our actions are motivated by our wish to avoid pain or our desire for pleasure

ethical hedonism

• determines what we ought to do

• suggesting pleasure is the only good and an action is right if it produces pleasure and avoids pain

Benthams principles of Utility

• believes this applies to ever actions and is universal

• actions are judges on their ability to produce pleasure or avoid pain

• stats that though consequences of actions cannot be known for sure we can use our past experiences to predict the likely outcome

Benthams understanding of Utility

• he understands Utility, benefit, advantage, pleasure, good and happiness to all by synonyms in a moral sense and therefore all relate to an action creating pleasure

Whose happiness did Bentham believe should be considered when making a decision?

• believed anyone whose interest or happiness would be impacted by the decision should be considered

• the person making the decision should try to avoid causing pain where possible

Quantitative utilitarianism

• morally right course of action is one that produces greatest net sum of pleasure minus pain

• biggest quantity of pleasure

Why did Bentham believe he did not need proof for the principles of utility?

• believed it was the fundamental basis of moral decisions and the proof stems from this baseline not the other way around

What are utilitarians required to look at before making a decision?

• look at specific situations and ask which course of action will produce the greatest utility

• he believe the ight action is determined in a case by case basis

preconditions of principle of utitlity: equality of pleasures/pains

• pushing for a a more impartial and inclusive view

• doesn’t matter who the people are whether there government, family friends ect

preconditions of principle of unity: the value of different pleasures

• Bentham only interested in the amount of pain or pleasure produced by an action, this is the only measure of value

• no pleasure higher or lower than another action

hedonic calculus step 1

• value of pleasure or pain

• intensity = how strong or powerful

• duration = how long will it last

• certainty or uncertainty = how likely is it to happen

• propinquity or remoteness = how far away is it from happening

hedonic calculus step 2

• the act of fecundity = the likelihood of the action being followed by more of the same sensation e.g a pleasure followed by another pleasure of vice versa

• the act of purity = the chance the action has of not being followed by a sensation of the opposite kind e.g a pleasure not being followed by a pain

hedonic calculus step 3

• application to a large number of people

• apply the six other steps and then

• extent = the number of persons to whom it extends that is those who are affected by it

How does Bentham expect it to be applied in reality?

• Bentham acknowledged that doing this process for every action is unrealistic

• he says we can use past experiences to assume what will give us pleasure or pain

• if you don’t have this past experience you can use this method

The allegory of the cave?

• characters been chained in a cave since birth, watch shadows

• prisoners name and class illusions and believe this is their real form

• one prisoner is freed and goes outside for the first time, can’t believe that this outside is the real world slowly adjusts to it and even sees reflections

• prisoner returns to cave, can’t see shadows any more, other prisoners won’t accept what he’s saying

Allegory of the cave analysis?

• suggests Plato believes most people find it easier to live in ignorance than knowing the truth

• believe most of us are just living in the cave and don’t see what he regard as ‘true’

• the sun is an analogy for the form of good which is the highest form, this shines light on everything else and allows us to see things

Who was John Mill?

• brought up be his father who was a Benthamite utilitarian

• worked for Bentham as a teenager

• later a writer and MP for Westminster

• Mill went into a depression which he attributed to what was wrong with Benthanism- he missed the meaning of life + connection, making people into utility calculating machine

Mills view on all pleasures being equal

• Bentham argued that all types of pleasure were equal (pushpin=poetry)

• For Mill however attainment of pleasure is not merely one form of pleasure rather happiness is of higher and lower kinds

• in his view pushpin is not equal to poetry, the latter being of higher value

• being human allows us to achieve different kinds of higher pleasure like thought, feeling and imagination

Mills view on the quality of pleasure

• believes the quality of the pleasure is more important than the quanity

• Mill argues only ‘competent’ judges can decide what’s a higher pleasure, competent judge being someone who can and has experienced all types of pleasure

• raises issues such as : people having biases (not everyone thinks the same things about pleasures) and Mill’s idea could be viewed as snobbish and perhaps classist due to activities often associated (especially during his time) with the higher class e.g poetry viewed as higher than pleasure attainable by everyone

Mills criticisms of Utilitarianism being too demanding/ lack of trust

• Mill criticises that demanding users of the hedonic calculus to make these calculations for every action is too demanding

• Act Utilitarianism doesn’t believe any action to have any intrinsic value, which leaves the possibility for anyone to commit any action as long as it produced the ‘maximum’ utility (e.g party scenario) which leads to a lack of predictability and reliability in their actions, this in turn leads to a lack of trust

Mills secondary principles

• rule of thumb, not rules used to tell us what will produce more utility

• examples such as : fidelity, fair play and truthfulness

• only when they fail does Mill suggest we must use the calculus

• things we deem to be good or value (such as not stealing or cheating ect) are not intrinsically good but because they produce the most collective happiness in the overall population most of the time

• not rules but principles as they can change over time according to further evidence which produces maximal utility for the collective

Nozicks beliefs?

• thinks the claim that happiness is the only good is simply not sufficient for human existence

Nozick’s experience machine

• gives you any experience you wish and you will feel it ‘in the inside’

• you can program any experience you like for as long as you like

• once you enter you have entered fro life you can’t come out of the machine

• everyone has access to this machine

Nozicks argument in standard form

• p1: if getting as much pleasure as possible is desirable then if X gives us more pleasure than Y we have no reason to choose Y over X

• p2: we will experience more pleasure if we plug into the machine than if we don’t

• c1: we have no reason therefore to not plug into the machine

• p3: however we have reason not to plug into the machine

• c2: experiencing as much pleasure as possible is not desirable

Nozack’s reasons why we don’t plug in

• we want to do things not just have the experience of them (e.g be a doctor to help people not just experience being a doctor)

• we want to be a certain type of person (be creative or empathetic)

• we want to make actual contact with reality

Problems with Nozacks experience machine

• our reasons for not plugging into the machine might not be about less welfare/pleasure so we can’t draw the conclusion that ethical hedonism is false from this (we change premise so you know for sure life is better in the machine than out then it works again)

• reason not to plug into the machine is moral based (change the premise to moral selfishness)

• don’t believe in ethical hedonism in the first place (change premise so subject prefers one life over another so will pick the better life)

• however hedonist would now say that the premise is unrealistic and unreasonable as subject would now simple plug in so it doesn’t work