UTILITARIANISM

1 Born: May 20, 1806;

Died: May 8, 1873

English Philosopher, Economist

2
and exponent of Utilitarianism

3 Eldest son of James Mill

Notable works:
4 • “Principle of Political Economy”
• “Utilitarianism”
• “A System of Logic”
 Born: February 15, 1748;
1
Died: June 6, 1832

Introduces Felicific/Hedonistic
2
Calculus

Intensity
3 Duration
Certainty or Uncertainty

Propinquity or Remoteness
4
Fecundity
Purity
Extent
 Happiness, as defined Mill’s utilitarian
by Mill, is pleasure and doctrine makes a
the absence of pain, concrete distinction
while unhappiness is between higher and
pain or the absence of lower forms of
pleasure. pleasure.
Principle of Utility or
The Greatest
Happiness Principle is
the supreme measure
of morality.
Bentham’s version of But in Mill’s version,
pleasures can be
utilitarianism focuses
distinguished not only
on the potential quantitatively, but
amount or quantity qualitatively as well.
of happiness that an Happiness should not be
action can potentially measured by solely on the
basis of how long or how
produce for it to be intense the feelings is for a
considered right. person.

Playing games all day for a week
• immediately satisfies one’s search
for fun and excitement
• allows one to hang out with
friends
• lets one enjoy oneself while
escaping the everyday pressures of
daily tasks like household chores,
etc.
• essentially satisfies one and one’s
gaming friends immediately
Studying three hours a day for a
week
• tedious, yet allows one to develop
his/her intellect and virtue of
perseverance in learning
important lessons for school
• the discipline of focusing on
VS relevant tasks related to one’s
education can go a long way in
one’s future endeavors
• relatively solitary
• has potential to bring pleasure to
one’s family by showing one’s
gratitude for their gift of
education
 Capacity for enjoyment is low.

The development of one’s

capacity for enjoyment is either
inherent or due to lack of
opportunity to experience the
higher pleasure.
It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied;
better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied; And if the
fool or the pig is of a different opinion, it is because they only
know their own side of the question.

Pleasures that are considered higher,

like the pleasure of gaining wisdom,
because they are more difficult to
attain and are to a certain extent more
difficult to access.
 Mill responds by Mill says that the
saying that if his life of happiness
objectors define defined in his The major sources
happiness as a theory is not a life of unhappiness are
Happiness is continuity of high
of rapture but an
selfishness,
unattainable existence made up
pleasurable poverty, disease,
of a few, transitory
excitement, then it pains, different
failure and a lack
is true that such pleasures with a of mental
life having decided cultivation
happiness indeed predominance of
impossible. pleasure over pain.
A person that has developed and harnessed one's mind
to find pleasure in the realms of nature, poetry, art, and
science continually finds sources of joy in his/her life,
no matter the circumstance. Happiness is, therefore,
attainable if one understands it realistically and lives
one's life in solidarity with others and cultivates one's
deeper capacity to enjoy that which endures in the
transitory.
1

The objection that utilitarian

morality is incompatible with self-
sacrifice

Mill's theory does not recognize

the value of self-sacrifice
3 4
The kind of self sacrifice
If self-sacrifice is merely done for Mill find reasonable is the kind
its own sake; then utilitarianism which produces consequences that
sees it as a waste. (Mill) benefit more people other than
oneself.

5
Utilitarianism upholds the
belief that a truly moral person
always tries to incorporate the good
of others in every decision he/she
makes.
 A distinction must be made between the
motives and the consequences of one’s
action

People always acts from the motive of

their duty towards others
UTILITARIAN
PERSPECTIVE:
Motive has nothing to do
P
with the morality of an
action
M MOTIVE:
says something about the
kind of person doing the
act, but not the morality of
Great number of actions the action one decides to
are meant to benefit undertake
individuals rather than the
greater majority (Mill)
One needs only attend to the
good of the few who shall
potentially reap the benefits
of one’s actions. (Mill)
 Ultimate
sanction is
the man's
feeling for
humanity External sanctions
External sanction exist externally to the
do promote the human agent as an
welfare of the whole individual; they may
but the Internal take the form of peer
sanction is still pressure--the fear of
considered as the their disapproval--or
Internal sanctions, of divine pressure--the
ultimate sanction of stems from one's
morality fear of his wrath.
conscience; these
consist of feelings in
one's own mind that
create discomfort
when one violates
duty.
 Utilitarianism supports the concept of the "Great
C Happiness Principle", which states that actions are right
when they promote the happiness of the greatest
O number and wrong if they cause the opposite.

N
C
L
The aim of Utilitarianism is to promote a moral way of
life that considers the welfare of the community and not

U
just one's own.

S
I To think of the consequences of one's actions in the
O context of the community is to be moral, and to
contribute to the pleasure of others and to decrease the
N measure of pain that afflicts them is one's realization of
a truly moral life.
R Jeremy Bentham. Henry William Pickersgill (died
1875). 1875. National Portrait Gallery: NPG 413
E
F John Stuart Mill. Hulton Archive. Circa 18790. N/A
E
R Macleod, C. "John Stuart Mill", The Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.),
E URL, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/mill/>.

N
Crimmins, J.E., "Jeremy Bentham", The Stanford
C Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2019 Edition), Edward N.
Zalta (ed.), URL,
E https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/bentham/>.

S
P
R
E AMPARO, MARILOU MAE E.
CRUZ, CRIZZALYN
S CRUZ, VIRGILIO
E DELA RAMA, DOMINIC LOUIS
KU, KATRINA
N LIGNES, PAUL THOMAS
T MORTERA, KIMBERLY CAMILLE
E OGAWA, EDSEL ANNE
PABELLON, KHAILE
D
ACT185
B
Y