Slide 1

Utilitarianism

https://www.studyblue.com/#file/view/302526 http://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gaskilld/ethics/utilitarianism%20notes.htm

Slide 2

A History of

Utilitarianism

2

Slide 3

3

Intrinsic Value

Many things have instrumental value, that is, they have value as means to an end.

However, there must be some things which are not merely instrumental, but have value in

themselves. This is what we call intrinsic value.

What has intrinsic value? Four principal candidates:

Pleasure

Jeremy Bentham

Happiness

John Stuart Mill

Ideals

G. E. Moore

Preferences

Kenneth Arrow

Slide 4

Jeremy Bentham

1748-1832

Bentham believed that we should try to increase the overall amount of pleasure in the world.

4

Slide 5

5

Pleasure

Definition: The enjoyable feeling we experience when a state of deprivation is replaced by fulfillment.

Advantages

Easy to quantify

Short duration

Bodily

Criticisms

Came to be known as the pigs philosophy

Ignores higher values

Could justify living on a pleasure machine

It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.

Slide 6

John Stuart Mill

1806-1873

Benthams godson

Believed that happiness, not pleasure, should be the standard of utility.

6

Slide 7

7

Happiness

Advantages

A higher standard, more

specific to humans

About realization of goals

Disadvantages

More difficult to measure

Competing conceptions of

happiness

Slide 8

G. E. Moore

1873-1958

Ideal ValuesG. E. Moore suggested that we should strive to maximize ideal values such as freedom, knowledge, justice, and beauty.

The world may not be a better place with more pleasure in it, but it certainly will be a better place with more freedom, more knowledge, more justice, and more beauty.

Moores candidates for intrinsic good remain difficult to quantify.

8

Slide 9

Kenneth Arrow

Preferences

Kenneth Arrow, a Nobel Prize winning Stanford economist, argued that what has intrinsic value is preference satisfaction.

The advantage of Arrows approach is that, in effect, it lets people choose for themselves what has intrinsic value. It simply defines intrinsic value as whatever satisfies an agents preferences. It is elegant and pluralistic.

9

Slide 10

Utilitarianism

English philosophers John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) and Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) were the leading proponents of what is now called classic utilitarianism.

Slide 11

It has its roots in 18th and 19th century social and political philosophy but its core idea is just as relevant in the 21st century.

Slide 12

Theory of Utilitarianism

CONSEQUENTIALIST APPROACH We should decide what to do by considering the consequences of

our actions.

We should act in ways that produce better consequences than the alternatives we are considering.

The Good: Things (goals, states of affairs) that are worth pursuing and promoting.

The Right: the moral rightness (or wrongness) of actions and policies.

Consequentialists say that actions are Right when they maximize the Good.

CONSEQUENTIALIST APPROACH we should act in ways that produce better consequences than the alternatives we are considering Consequentialism: Whether an action is morally right or wrong depends entirely on its consequences. An action is right if it brings about the best outcome of the choices available. Otherwise it is wrong.

Slide 13

Overall good

Slide 14

Theory of Utilitarianism

WHAT IS MEANT BY BETTER CONSEQUENCES? Better consequences are those that promote human well-being:

happiness, health, dignity, integrity, freedom, and respect of all the people affected.

maximize the overall good

the greatest good for the greatest number

put aside self-interest for the sake of the whole.

Ultimate ethical goal from this theory: to produce the best consequences for all

the parties affected by the decisions

If these elements are basic human values, then an action which promotes more of them than the alternative action does is more reasonable than an ethical point of view. A decision that promotes the greatest amount of these values for the greatest number of people is more reasonable decision from an ethical point of view. Utilitarianism is commonly identified with the principle: maximizing the overall good or, in a slightly different version, of producing the greatest good for the greatest number Decisions that accomplish this goal are the right decisions to make ethically and those do not are ethically wrong

Slide 15

Theory of Utilitarianism

IT PROVIDES STRONG SUPPORT FOR DEMOCTRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND POLICIES

It opposes policies that aim to benefit small social, economic, or political

minority.

Government and all social institutions exist for the well-being of all, not to

further the interests of the monarch, the nobility, or some small group of the

elite

The economy and economic institutions exist to provide the highest

standard of living for the greatest number of people, not to create wealth

for few.

Slide 16

CHILD LABOR

Problematic consequences:

Children suffer physical and psychological harms

They are denied opportunities for education

Their low pay is not enough to escape a life of poverty

Slide 17

CHILD LABOR

Alternative Decisions:

Consequences if children in poor regions are denied

of factory jobs:

These children would still be denied opportunities for education

they would live in worse poverty

They would have less money for food and family support.

Young children who are prohibited from joining the workforce might

include crime, drugs, and prostitution

Child labor can have beneficial results for bringing

foreign investment and money into a poor country.

Allowing children to work for pennies a day under sweatshop conditions produces better overall consequences than the available alternatives. Thus, one might argue on utilitarian grounds that such labor practices are ethically permissible because they produce better overall consequences than the alternatives.

Slide 18

Theory of Utilitarianism

Utilitarians decide on the basis of consequences

Consequences depend on the specific facts of each

situation

Utilitarians tend to be very pragmatic thinkers

No act is ever absolutely right or wrong in all cases in

every situation; right and wrong will always depend on

the consequences.

The example highlights the important aspects of Utilitarian Reasoning. For example, lying is neither right nor wrong in itself, according to utilitarians. In some situations, lying may produce greater overall good than telling the truth. In such a situation, it would be ethically justified to tell a lie.

Slide 19

Theory of Utilitarianism

Happiness

the ultimate good

the only thing that it and can be valued for its own sake

the best and most reasonable interpretation of human well

being