PHI-240 Chap. 5 - Utilitarianism

What is a utilitarian POV?

when one thinks about issues from a perspective that takes the general happiness of everyone into account

Utilitarianism

form of consequentialism; focusing moral concern on creating good outcomes for as many people as possible; responsive to empirical conditions & “facts on the ground”; requires adjusting policies when circumstance change; part of empiricist tradition in philosophy; believes that what we know what is good only by observation/appeal to experience; actions are not evaluated by nature/motive of acts, but rather the result; open to experimentation & evidence to evaluate whether actions result in good/bad; considered universalistic bc actions affectct happiness of all

Classical Utilitarianism

pleasure or happiness theory; focused on happiness; similar to Aristotle’s ethics and hedonism; believes there is not difference btwn pleasure & happiness; both terms refer to a psychic state of satisfaction

Types of Pleasure

Mill claims there are a range of pleasures; ex. eating when hungry, completing a task, aesthetic pleasures (ex. watching beautiful sunset), intellectual pleasures (understanding smth); Mill’s theory claims there are higher pleasures; consider range of pleasures & aspects of pleasurable actions when deciding best course of action

Hedonism

aka Epicureanism; theory that holds pleasure as the highest good; named after Epicurus, who believed that a good life is a pleasant one that avoids distress

Utilitarianism & Cost-Benefit Analysis

utilitarianism encourages analysis of costs & benefits of diff choices; whichever choice has the greater net happiness is the best alternative; this approach assumes that risks & benefits of actions can be compared; idea is that actions are morally better/worse depending on whether they cause pleasure/pain, or how they affect human well-being & happiness; utilitarianism focuses on sum of individual pleasures & pains (unlike egoism, which is concerned with the self); counts each human’s interests equally when summing pleasure & pain; thus utilitarianism is against discriminatory ideas which hold interests of some people over those of others; Jeremy Bentham included animals in utilitarianism

How do utilitarianism & egoism differ?

utilitarianism is not an egoistic theory; both are forms of consequentialism; utilitarianism focuses on sum of individual pleasures & pains, while egoism is concerned with pleasures & pains of the self; utilitarianism focuses on consequences for all persons impacted by an action; versions of egoism that focus on self for good of all are versions of utilitarianism; utilitarianism also unlike altruism bc it also cares about the self

How do forms of utilitarianism differ?

can differ based on understanding of what consequences/interests matter (subjective feelings/objective metrics); complexities also arise in defining happiness, interest, and well-being; Peter Singer wanted to focus on interests, rather than pleasures/happiness, as not all pleasures are in one’s interest (ex. drug use); some forms focus on people preferences, which can also conflict w/interests; ppl disagree about whether pleasure is a good thing or whether happiness is just based on pleasure

What controversies arise w/utilitarianism?

questions arise about whether morality should be focused on complex & changing consequences or abstract & invariable moral principles not based in consequences; some uses of utilitarianism are controversial because they go against intuitions about right & wrong (ex. torture in terrorist interrogations)

What are some applications of utilitarianism?

large social engineering projects; China’s one-child policy limited reproductive rights for the good of future generations; speed limits; COVID lockdowns

How do utilitarians view policies?

do not see actions/policies as good or bad in themselves; goodness/badness is a function of its consequences, rather than inherent morality; ex. would support killing someone to prevent harm to larger number

From whom did utilitarianism originate from?

from the writings of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873); Mill’s father was an associate of Bentham, so he became a devoted follower of his philosophy; Mill summarized basic ideas of utilitarian moral theory in his work Utilitarianism, where he dispelled misconception that morality had nothing to do with usefulness/utility or that morality was opposed to pleasure

Jeremy Bentham

1748-1832; originator of utilitarian moral theory; English law student; leader of radical social & legal reform movement based on utilitarian principles; main work was Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation that aimed it use principles that guide moral to guide formation & revision of law, as those principles guide social & personal morality; optimist; believed human wisdom & science would improve humanity

John Stuart Mill

1806-1873; originator of utilitarian moral theory; son of Jeremy Bentham’s associate; became devoted follower of Bentham; wrote Utilitarianism; strong supporter of personal liberty; interested in public policy; served in British Parliament from 1865-1868; optimist; believed human wisdom & science would improve humanity

What were John Stuart Mill’s views on personal liberty?

strong supporter; argued in pamphlet On Liberty that the only reason for society to interfere w/one’s life was to prevent them from harming others; believed in letting ppl make bad choices w/govt interfering; supported free speech; did not share views on whether liberty should be restricted to promote general good (ex. speed limits)

What were the views of the original utlitarians?

liberal, progressive, empiricist, optimistic; wanted social policy to serve everyone rather than just the upper class; believed in solving conflicts in interests by choosing option that promotes interest of greater number; questioned the status quo; supported changing punishment systems that did not work well; judged social programs from utilitarian view using obersvation

Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill’s Views on Race & Women

had some problematic views; had egalitarian worldview; both critical of slavery; Mill wanted improved relations btwn genders & criticized treatment of women bc they were not allowed to develop talents & contribute to society; supported women voting; Mill worked for British East India Company & defended British imperialism using utilitarianism; claimed that colonization would civilize colonized people (white man’s burden); described as tolerant imperialist

Principle of Utility

aka greatest happiness principle; basic moral principles of utilitarianism; idea that what matters is pleasure produced by an action, especially pleasure produced for greatest # of ppl; supports working to achieve greatest happiness for greatest number; believes that actions are right when the promote happiness, and wrong when they prevent happiness; practices are assessed by likely/actual consequences of alternatives; use cost-benefit analysis to find best solution

Utilitarian Views on Pleasure

believe it is a good to be produced; things (fame, fortune, education, freedom) are good only to the extent they produce pleasure/happiness; these things are instrumental goods; happiness & pleasure are the only intrinsic goods

What are the five elements used to calculate the greatest amount of happiness?

net amount of pleasure/happiness, its intensity, its duration, its fruitfulness, and the likelihood of any act to produce it

Net Amount of Happiness

element in calculating greatest amt of happiness; pleasure - pain; nearly every alternative produces both pleasure & pain; pain is intrinsically bad, while pleasure is intrinsically good; something that causes pain is accepted only if it produces more pleasure overall; units of pleasure/pain are usually happy persons/days

Intensity of Happiness

element in calculating greatest amt of happiness; some moments of pleasure are more intense than others; more intense pleasure = better; pleasure often rated from 1-10 (least to most) and multiplied by net happiness

Duration of Happiness

element in calculating greatest amt of happiness; longer lasting pleasure = better when everything else is equal

Fruitfulness of Happiness

element in calculating greatest amt of happiness; whether pleasure makes us more capable of experiencing other pleasures; depends on immediate

Likelihood of Happiness

element in calculating greatest amt of happiness; likelihood of producing happiness

How did Bentham and Mill’s views on pleasure differ?

agreed that more happiness = better; Bentham only considered quantity (how much pleasure, how many ppl, intensity, duration, fruitfulness, likelihood); considered pleasurable acts to be equal regardless of quality; Mill considered quality of pleasure; did this after having crisis about not caring about aesthetic experiences; believed that some pleasures are intrinsically better (ex. intellectual pleasures > sensual pleasures); did not specify how valuable each type of pleasure is, but factored quality into happiness calculation

How does Mill attempt to prove that intellectual pleasures are better than sensual ones?

asks if ppl would rather live life of a dissatisfied human or a satisfied animal; believed that ppl would choose the former bc we value something other than amount of pleasure, we value quality of pleasure; Mill’s view raises question of if happiness is objective or subjective

What frustrates students when calculating greatest amount of happiness?

complexity of considering all variables, including quality of happiness; shows that no one can consider all variables of utilitarianism; also requires us to have common unit for measuring pleasure, which is difficult (hedons have been considered as unit); no moral theory has simple application; however, only have consider a few variables depending on moral question; another complexity is that in some cases, one cannot both maximize happiness & make greatest # of people happy; Mill supports maximizing happiness over maximizing happy people

What is a criticism people have of utilitarianism’s universalist & maximizing agenda?

utilitarianism argues that we should always maximize overall happiness; should not put our or our loved one’s happiness over other people’s; some argue that this is contrary to common sense; some utilitarian argue that we should value our and our loved one’s happiness more bc it will likely have better overall results due to being motivated; some say utilitarianism goes against our perosnal integrity, as it may require us to deprioritize ourselves; utilitarians argue that we shoudl regard oneself bc it will benefit society overall

Why do ppl criticize utilitarianism’s consequentialism?

utilitarianism claims that the consequences of actions determine whether the means are justified; can go against commonsense morality; some utilitarians argue that doing immoral things can have bad long term effects, and reduce any positive effects

The Trolley Problem

common problem with utilitarianism; speeding trolley about to hit 5 workers; can pull switch to hit only 1 worker; utilitarianism argues that you must pull the switch to save the most lives bc only end result matters; can go against intuition in some scenarios; trolley problem is used by psychologists to examine human decision-making; research examines psychological sources of decisions, and impact of emotions, logic, and moral rules on decisions; research showed conflict in how we do react and how we should react; some research shows the utiliarian calculations are cold and associated w/psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and life meaninglessness

How do utilitarians respond to criticism that utilitarianism justifies poor behavior in the name of good consequences?

contemporary utilitarians focus on general rules than individual acts (rule utilitarianism)

Rule Utilitarianism

type of utilitarianism; requires one to produce greatest amount of happiness for greatest number of ppl; states that we ought to consider the consequences of the act performed as a general practice; asks “what if everyone did that”; considers consequences of some practice/rule of behavior; claims that acts are similar to one another and can be thought of as practices; should follow rule that produces best results when ppl follow them; some utilitarians expand thinking from single rules to sets of general rules/practices; rules form a system in which there are rules for priority & stringency that tell is which practices are more important and compares importance of rules; do what the best system of rules dictates in terms of maximizing happiness

Act Utilitarianism

type of utilitarianism; requires one to produce greatest amount of happiness for greatest number of ppl; states that we ought to consider the consequences of each act separately; claims that we should only consider what will or is likely to happen with an act, not what could happen but will not

Justification of Utilitarianism

utilitarianism is an empiricist theory, and therefore must draw its evidence from experience; Mill argues that because we desire happiness, that is proof that happines is desirable/good; claims that happiness is only intrinsically desirable thing, so we only desire things bc they will lead to happiness; therefore, happiness is the only intrinsic good

What is an issue with Mill’s justification of utilitarianism?

argument defines good in terms of what ppl desired; claims that happiness is the only intrisic good; claim that Mill’s analogy about desirablility does not hold up bc does not prove that happiness is worth beign desired; just bc we desire smth doesn’t mean we ought to desire something (naturalistic fallacy); Mill responds by claiming that desire for happiness is universal and we can only desire things that bring us happiness