Utilitarianism

Chapter 4 ETCI
Professor Douglas Olena
 Utilitarianism

47 Golden Gate Bridge

What are the benefits and costs of erecting a
barrier to jumpers?
“The moral theory of utilitarianism asserts that
we ought to produce the most happiness or
pleasure that we can and reduce suffering and
unhappiness.”
 History

48 Jeremy Bentham (1748 to 1832)

John Stuart Mill (1806 to 1873)
 History

48 Jeremy Bentham in Introduction to the Principles

of Morals and Legislation, makes a case for taking
moral principles and use them to form and revise
the law.
Mill lays out the theory of utilitarianism in the
short book Utilitarianism.
He defends utilitarianism as a comprehensive
proposal for guiding the individual and the state.
 History
48 The early utilitarians were democratic,
progressive, empiricist and optimistic.
Democratic: social policy ought to work for the
good of all persons, not just the upper class.
Progressive: Questioned the status quo.
Empiricist: Observation would determine
whether a policy was successful or not.
Optimistic: Human wisdom and science could
improve “the lot of humanity.”.
 History
48 Democratic:
Where interests conflicted, the best choice was
to aim at satisfying the interests of the majority.
Progressive:
If a program was not working well, it was time
to change it.
“Social programs should be judged by their
usefulness in promoting what was deemed to
be good.”
 History

48 Empiricist:
We only know what is good by observation or
by appeal to experience.
Optimist:
“All grand sources of human suffering are in a
great degree, many of them almost entirely,
conquerable by human care and effort.”
The Principle of Utility

48 The principle of utility also called the greatest

happiness principle has several formulations.
“The morally best (or better) alternative is that
which produces the greatest or (greater) net
utility, where utility is defined in terms of
happiness or pleasure.”
“We ought to do that which produces the
greatest amount of happiness for the greatest
number of people.”
 Consequentialism

49 “Utilitarianism is teleological in orientation… it

stresses the end or goal of actions.
It is a consequentialist moral theory.

Motive Act Consequences

 Consequentialism

49 “It is the result of one’s action… that matters

morally.”
The lives that are saved by building the barrier on
the Golden Gate Bridge…
Consequentialism itself does not tell us which
consequences are good.
 The Intrinsic Good

49 Happy or pleasurable consequences are the

goal of this formula.
In this point, Utilitarianism is like Aristotle’s ethic
which we will study later.
It is more like the classical theory… known as
hedonism.
It bears resemblance to epicureanism… “which
held that the good life was the pleasant life.”
 The Intrinsic Good

49 Pleasure and happiness “refer to a kind of

psychic state of satisfaction.”
There are different kinds of pleasures of which
humans are capable.
 The Intrinsic Good

49 Pleasures:
physical pleasures: the satisfaction of hunger
satisfaction of a job well done
aesthetic pleasures: a sunset
intellectual pleasures
Calculating Happiness

50, 51 There are five categories used to calculate

pleasure: these are probabilistic calculations.
pleasure minus pain
intensity
duration
fruitfulness
likelihood
 Quantity & Quality

51, 52 Bentham wants us to consider only the

quantity of pleasure, While Mill wishes that we
consider also the quality.
Intellectual pleasure is, to Mill, of greater value
than sensual pleasures. (sensual here, intending
pleasures of the senses)
It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a
pig satisfied, better Socrates dissatisfied than a
fool satisfied.
Evaluating the Theory

Application of the Principle

Utilitarianism and Personal Integrity
Ends and Means
 Application
52 Is Utilitarianism too complex to calculate the
outcome of any decision.
In response, the utilitarian would say that
considering the variables at all would increase the
likelihood of a better decision.
Choosing between the greater happiness of a few
over lesser happiness of a great many is also a
problem.
Mill gives preference to an overall maximization
of benefit.
 Personal Integrity

53 Does maximizing the overall happiness of

society damage minorities or individuals?
Does calculating the greatest good for the greatest
number leave my projects out of the picture?
“An ethics that stresses caring for individuals
would object to the impersonalism of this aspect
of utilitarianism.”
 Ends and Means

53 Does the “end justify the means?”

This seems to contradict commonsense morality,
even though the ends may be desirable.
Magistrate and the angry crowd.
ACT & RULE UTILITARIANISM

53 “Act utilitarianism states that we ought to

consider the consequences of each act separately.”
54 “Rule utilitarianism states that we ought to
consider the consequences of the act performed as
a general practice.”
ACT & RULE UTILITARIANISM

54 An act utilitarian might consider the

consequences of lying in each case and determine
their behavior on that basis.
A rule utilitarian would consider what would
happen if everyone were to be allowed to lie.
The act utilitarian would be choosing on an event
by event basis.
The rule utilitarian would be choosing by
universalizing behavior to judge consequences.
ACT & RULE UTILITARIANISM

For utilitarianism to be applicable to society there

must be a way to generalize the behaviors and
write them into law.
Proof of the Theory
Contemporary Versions

Preference Utilitarianism
Cost-Benefit Analysis