Ethics Lesson 2: Utilitarianism Flashcards

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering core terms, definitions, key figures, and principles from the Ethics lecture on Utilitarianism.

Jeremy Bentham

A British philosopher (1748–1832) who founded the doctrine of utilitarianism, led 'the philosophical radicals', and pioneered modern ideas of surveillance through his Panopticon prison design.

Panopticon prison

An 'inspection house' envisioned by Jeremy Bentham as a circular building with prisoners' cells arranged around the outer wall and a central point dominated by an inspection tower.

Teleological ethical system

An ethical system that judges the rightness of an act in terms of an external goal or purpose.

Consequentialist ethics

A moral philosophy proposing that actions, rules, or policies should be ethically measured and evaluated by their consequences, rather than by the intentions or motives of the agent.

Absolutists

Ethicists who believe in a natural law or in natural rights that render certain acts immoral regardless of their outcomes.

Utilitarianism

The most influential consequentialist theory, derived from the Latin word utilis ('useful'), stating that what is useful is good and that the moral value of actions is determined by the utility of their consequences.

Act Utilitarianism

A form of utilitarianism in which the principle of utility is applied directly to every alternative act in a situation of choice to determine the option that brings about the best results or least harm.

Rule Utilitarianism

A form of utilitarianism in which the principle of utility is used to decide the validity of rules of conduct (moral standards or principles).

Hedonic calculus

A detailed method created by Jeremy Bentham to calculate the quantitative worth of pleasures and pains based on seven criteria.

Intensity

A criterion in Bentham's hedonic calculus measuring how intense the pleasure or pain is.

Duration

A criterion in Bentham's hedonic calculus measuring how long the pleasure or pain lasts.

Propinquity

A criterion in Bentham's hedonic calculus measuring the temporal distance or nearness of the action that will happen.

Fecundity

A criterion in Bentham's hedonic calculus measuring the likelihood that a pleasure or pain will lead to another of the same kind.

Certainty

A criterion in Bentham's hedonic calculus measuring the probability that an action will actually result in the expected pleasure or pain.

Purity

A criterion in Bentham's hedonic calculus measuring the likelihood that a pleasure will not lead to subsequent pain.

Extent

A criterion in Bentham's hedonic calculus measuring how many people are affected by an action.

Four sanctions of pleasure

The four sources or channels of pleasure identified by Jeremy Bentham: the physical, the moral, the religious, and the political.

Deterrent account of punishment

Bentham's view that punishment is justified only if it deters people from perpetrating future harm, explicitly opposing retributive punishment for mere retribution's sake.

John Stuart Mill

A 19th-century British philosopher who systematized and modified Bentham's utilitarian principles, focusing on the quality of pleasures rather than just their quantity.

Greatest Happiness Principle

The moral rule stating that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, and wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.

Higher Pleasure

Pleasures of the intellect, feelings, imagination, and moral sentiments (such as art, politics, and spirituality), which Mill considered superior to physical pleasures.

Lower Pleasure

Bodily and physical/sensual pleasures (such as eating, drinking, and sex) that human beings share with non-human animals.

Capitalism

An economic system where private sectors hold, possess, and control property in conformity to their preference.

Ethical capitalism

An economic framework that focuses on building long-term value in terms of economy and society while considering all aspects in the 'spectrum of constituencies' (customers, workers, distributors, investors, and society).

Strong Rule Utilitarianism

A position within rule utilitarianism maintaining that moral rules cannot be broken under any circumstances.

Weak Rule Utilitarianism

A two-level form of rule utilitarianism holding that intuitive moral rules should be followed normally, but can be broken using critical reasoning in rare situations.

Primary Rule

In two-level utilitarianism, the intuitive set of moral rules that individuals should follow most of the time.

Secondary Rule

In two-level utilitarianism, experience-based practical rules that guide critical moral reasoning on rare occasions when primary rules need to be broken.