utilitarianism

Utilitarianism

1. Core Idea: The greatest good for the greatest number.

   • Focuses on the consequences of actions to determine morality.

2. Key Figures:

   • Jeremy Bentham: Founder of utilitarianism.

   • John Stuart Mill: Refined and expanded Bentham's ideas.

3. Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarianism:

   • Hedonistic Calculus: Measures pleasure and pain to determine the best action.

     1. Factors: Intensity, duration, certainty, proximity, fecundity, purity, extent.

   • Act Utilitarianism: Each action should be evaluated based on its consequences.

4. John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism:

   • Higher and Lower Pleasures: Distinguished between intellectual and sensual pleasures.

     1. Higher pleasures (intellect, creativity) are superior to lower pleasures (eating, sex).

   • Rule Utilitarianism: Follow rules that generally lead to the greatest good.

5. Types of Utilitarianism:

   • Act Utilitarianism: Focuses on individual actions and their immediate consequences.

   • Rule Utilitarianism: Focuses on general rules and their overall consequences.

   • Preference Utilitarianism: Considers individual preferences and aims to maximize overall satisfaction of preferences.

6. Criticisms of Utilitarianism:

   • The Problem of Justice: Can lead to unjust outcomes for minorities.

   • Difficulty of Predicting Consequences: Hard to know the full impact of actions.

   • Demandingness: Requires people to constantly maximize overall happiness, which can be unrealistic.

7. Applications of Utilitarianism:

   • Ethics: Used to make moral decisions by weighing consequences.

   • Politics: Used to justify policies that promote the general welfare.

   • Economics: Used to evaluate economic policies based on their impact on overall happiness.

8. Key Concepts:

   • Consequentialism: The belief