...Ethical Judgments ! Utilitarianism ! An Introduction to the Moral Theories of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill Ethical philosophy differs from the sciences because it is normative or prescriptive, rather than descriptive. In other words, ethics tell us how we ought to act or what we should do, while the sciences are more likely to observe how things are in nature or society. Making Ethical Judgments Areas of Emphasis in Making Moral Judgments Purpose or Act Rule Act, Rule, Motive or Maxim Results or Consequences Making Ethical Judgments in Utilitarianism ! ! ! Utilitarianism says that the Result or the Consequence of an Act is the real measure of whether it is good or bad. This theory emphasizes Ends over Means. Theories, like this one, that emphasize the results or consequences are called teleological or consequentialist. Bentham’s Formulation of Utilitarianism ! ! ! Jeremy Bentham Man is under two great masters, pain and pleasure. The great good that we should seek is happiness. (a hedonistic perspective) Those actions whose results increase happiness or diminish pain are good. They have “utility.” 1 Jeremy Bentham’s Hedonistic Calculus ! Four Theses of Utilitarianism ! ! ! In determining the quantity of happiness that might be produced by an action, we evaluate the possible consequences by p q y applying several values: Intensity, duration, certainty or uncertainty, propinquity or remoteness, fecundity, purity,...
Words: 1546 - Pages: 7
...Experience Machine Objection Utilitarianism is a normative moral theory, which suggests that actions are seen as right if they tend to produce happiness to the majority and wrong if they tend to be wrong if they produce unhappiness. This theory can take on the form of act utilitarianism although in this essay, I will be focusing solely on hedonistic utilitarianism as well as an objection to this theory, the experience machine objection. Robert Nozick introduced this objection. Following an explanation of both hedonistic utilitarianism and the experience machine objection I will be critically evaluating the objection. I am going to argue that the experience machine objection is valid against hedonistic utilitarianism because there are people who would not plug into the machine. There are some people who prefer to physically do things not just experience them, don’t want to be limited to a man-made reality and want to make a difference in the world. Two key contributors to the normative moral theory of utilitarianism are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism specifies what makes an action morally correct or incorrect. The theory suggests, “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness and wrong, as they tend to produce the opposite of happiness.” (Mill 454) It is a type of consequentialism as even though the act itself may be morally wrong, if it produces the best consequences it is seen as a morally right action. For example, killing one healthy...
Words: 1999 - Pages: 8
...Utilitarianism. Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832 It a teleological ethic, and a consequentialist approach as whether an action is right or wrong it doesn’t matter the consequences are most important. Background. Created by Jeremy Bentham, he was born in London at a time of great change. He was born in the eighteenth century. It was a time of great depression, alcoholism and violence plague the streets you can see this in gin lane. Jeremy Benthem saw humans were guided by two main motivations pain and pleasure. 'nature has placed mankind under the governess of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure it is from them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as determine what we shall do' this ethic is hedonistic, as it strives to obtain maximum pleasure. Pleasure is as the sole good and pain the sole evil. Principle of utility for utilitarianism is the greatest good for the greatest number. This is hard to calculate as happiness is relative and different to all. So Jeremy Bentham created a quantitative method via the hedonic calculus. It has seven factors: intensity- how deep or superficial the happiness is duration- how temporary or permanent the happiness is certainty- how sure the happiness is propinquity- how near or remote the happiness is fecundity-how likely the happiness is to recur or lead to further happiness purity- how free from pain the happiness is extent- how far the happiness,giving effects of action will spread. This can be obviously...
Words: 1073 - Pages: 5
...Morality (from the Latin moralitas "manner, character, proper behavior") is the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are distinguished as proper and those that are improper.[1] Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from acode of conduct from a particular philosophy, religion, or culture, or it can derive from a standard that a person believes should be universal.[2] Morality may also be specifically synonymous with "goodness" or "rightness." Moral philosophy includes moral ontology, or the origin of morals, as well as moral epistemology, or knowledge about morals. Different systems of expressing morality have been proposed, including deontological ethical systems which adhere to a set of established rules, and normative ethical systems which consider the merits of actions themselves. An example of normative ethical philosophy is the Golden Rule, which states that: "One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself."[3] Immorality is the active opposition to morality (i.e. opposition to that which is good or right), while amorality is variously defined as an unawareness of, indifference toward, or disbelief in any set of moral standards or principles. An initial naïve attempt at a descriptive definition of “morality” might take it to refer to the most important code of conduct put forward by a society and accepted by the members of that society. But the existence of large and heterogeneous societies raises...
Words: 1480 - Pages: 6
...The principle of utilitarianism the moral test for the rightness or wrongness of an action. It is based on the principle of utility, aiming to maximise pleasure and minimize pain. The word utility comes from the Greek “utilis” meaning beneficial/useful theory. It is a teleological consequential argument, as everything is focused on the end result and whether or not it generates happiness. It is relative to the situation as can bend the rules, allowing hedonistic acts to occur, hedonistic acts are those which are selfish pleasures. There are two types of utilitarianism Act and Rule and they vary in the following ways. Jeremy Bentham is the founder of Act Utilitarianism, and his theory is quantitive. He focuses on making the majority of people happy “greatest happiness for the greatest number”. Bentham stated “pushpin is just as good as poetry” as it wax his belief that all pleasures were the same. However John Stuart Mill who is the founder of Rule Utilitarianism his theory is qualative, and believes that there are higher and lower pleasures. Higher pleasures being those which stimulate the brain e.g. poetry and lower pleasures being those that have a physically pleasuring sensation directly to the body e.g. sexual intercourse. Mill justifies his belief by stating “poetry is superior to pushpin” criticising Bentham’s idea that all pleasures are of the same depth. Mill emphasises the fact that higher pleasures are far superior to lower pleasures by stating “it is better...
Words: 1587 - Pages: 7
...Examine the key features of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is an ethical philosophy which focuses on pleasure, and decides wether an act is morally right if it brings pleasure to the majority of people involved. The philosophy was proposed by the Englishman Jeremy Bentham(1748 - 1832), who was a consequentalist and believed that an act was good as long as it brought out a positive outcome, and that all acts done on the way would be justified if it ended with a postivie result. The theory`s historical context was that it strived to be a relovutionary social and political reform movement, propagated in the 18th and 19th century in the Enlightenment era. This era was identified by dynamic and permissive ideas about the human natures and societys impeccability. The theory is also made with a secular view, which means that it is not based on any religion and therefore can be used by anyone, both religious and non-religious. The fact that it focuses on the consequences of actions makes it teleological, which is a theory of morality that defines all actions as right if it brings out maximum pleasure. There is no fixed rules other than that the outcome has to be pleasure for the majority, which also makes Utilitarianism relativist. The principle of Utility is “the greatest good for the greatest number” which is a phrase coined by Francis Hutcheson. It shows the simple rule of Utilitariansism which is that the majority of people should be getting pleasure. Later, Jeremy Bentham used...
Words: 834 - Pages: 4
...Philosophy 20 Ethics – Final Exam How Does the Virtue Theory Differ from Utilitarianism and Duty Theory? May 29, 2012 Keysha Latrice Gwin West Los Angeles College Philosophy 20 Ethics – Final Exam How Does the Virtue Theory Differ from Utilitarianism and Duty Theory? May 29, 2012 Keysha Latrice Gwin West Los Angeles College Virtue Theory, Utilitarianism and Duty Theory contain the common goal of HAPPINESS! Although they share this common goal the journey in which you reach said happiness bares little similarity. Aristotle’s Virtue Theory states that perfect happiness or Eudemonia is realized by “living the good life”. Aristotle believes that you achieve this state of perfect happiness as a result of a reasoned governed life. Virtue theory focuses on what is good for oneself. Aristotle believed that mankind would blossom by exhibiting good virtues however; everything should be done with moderation. Finding the moderate balance of virtue is a skill that can only be accomplished through Phronesis “practical wisdom”. Virtuous acts lie between the deficiency and excessiveness of virtue itself. Virtue is not a characteristic that a man exhibits by following rules and guidelines set before him; virtuous acts are those that are guided by what the individual agent wants for himself! It asks the question “what type of person do I want to be”. Finding the medium in virtuous acts involves applying the skills of communication, awareness, and knowledge, all of which...
Words: 1507 - Pages: 7
...Memorandum TO: Professor Erika Oquinn FROM: Alla Hajeh DATE: 3/17/2013 SUBJECT: Heart Transplant After a very thorough and intensive process I have decided to give the heart to Lisa. This was a very tough decision to make and although every one of these people deserve this heart I have found it to be in the best interest of everyone that Lisa gets the heart. The utilitarianism theory and hedonistic utilitarianism have greatly affected my thinking and have helped me come to this conclusion. The utilitarianism theory is based upon that the greatest good for the greatest number should be the main consideration in making a choice. Also, the second theory goes hand in hand where there is more pleasure than pain when more people benefit from the greatest good for the greatest number (Weijers, 2011). So in that pleasure is more important and needs to be valued where pain shouldn’t. Below I will describe more thoroughly the process I went through and the factors I determined in concluding my decision. * Jerry: This candidate is 55 years old and although with this heart his chance of survival is another 10-15 years old there are many people his age that die of heart attacks, strokes, etc. The other candidates are younger and haven’t experienced the many wonders of life this man probably has like the simple things, falling in love, getting married, having children, etc. His children are at an older age where they understand life and death. His kids can soon all get...
Words: 815 - Pages: 4
...Ethics 368 22 June 2014 The Ford Pinto Case from a Utilitarian Perspective “Utilitarianism adopts a teleological approach to ethics and claims that actions are to be judged by their consequences” (DeGeorge 44). When looking at an decision from this view, we are to be impartial that decisions are not right or wrong by themselves, but also that we must analyze the results to determine if actions are good or bad. We know that Ford became more completive in the subcompact market from the Pinto sold in 1971 thru 1978. Ford also captured their fair share of the market for subcompact. There are several things about utilitarianism that make it appealing as a standard for moral decisions in business. One of them being “act utilitarian”, which holds individual actions to a test. “A theory developed by Jeremy Bentham and introduced to the world in his book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, released in back in the 17th century” (Bentham, Jeremy). There are many ways to determine the outcome of an action. Our reactions to pain and pleasure is a measure. The good that an action provides for the majority of those involved or the greatest number of people is another. Ford had a product to deliver and consumers wanted it. In determining whether this action produces more pain or pleasure for the majority, hedonistic calculus can be used. It is easier to be impartial, when using this calculus on an ethical decision. The calculus weighs all the factors involved...
Words: 1296 - Pages: 6
...if it ends in unhappiness (pain). Since the link between actions and their happy or unhappy outcomes depends on the circumstances, no moral principle is absolute or necessary in itself under utilitarianism. Utilatarianism Proposed by the English philosopher-reformer Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) in his 1789 book Principles Of Morals And Legislation it was developed by the English philosopher-economist John Stuart Mill (1806-73) in his 1863 book Utilitarianism. Bentham’s Formulation of Utilitarianism are firstly, man is under two great masters which is pain and pleasure. Secondly, the great good that we should seek is happiness (a hedonistic perspective). Those actions whose results increase happiness or diminish pain are good. So that, they have “utility.” There are four theses of Utilitarianism which are the rightness of actions is determined solely by their consequences (Consequentialism), utility is the degree to which an act produces pleasure. Hedonism is the thesis that pleasure or happiness is the good that we seek and that we should seek (Hedonism), a right action produces the greatest good consequences and the least bad (Maximalism) and the consequences to be considered are those of everyone affected, and everyone equally (Universalism) There are two types of Utilitarianism which are act and rule. Act according to Jeremy Bentham is an action is right if and only if it produces the greatest balance of pleasure over pain for the greatest number. While rule according...
Words: 507 - Pages: 3
...All of human life is marked by a series of problems and questions that must be confronted and answered. Every day we face basic choices, to eat the ice cream or the cake, to swim or to bike, to play soccer or basketball, to read or watch TV. Such examples are trivial, but there are much more important ones with more foreboding consequences: to go to college or not, where to go, choosing a career, a spouse, a house. Yet, there are even more serious dilemmas that must be faced, some that may have eternal consequences: to go war or not, to lie and cheat or not, to unplug a loved one from a respirator, and so on. Such moral questions have enormous weight to them. And as human beings, we have no choice but to face them every day. It is part of the essence of what it is to be a human. There is no way out of it, no matter how much someone tries to ignore these issues, these choices must be made, and their consequences faced. Others have realized the importance of such questions and have devoted much time and writing to address them. All the way back to Plato and Aristotle, philosophers have been deeply concerned with such issues. Each has offered his own view of right and wrong and how to go about acting in the right way. Those in the field of ethics have spent much time pondering these questions. Two such philosophers were Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Each of these philosophers expounded and endorsed the principle of utility. For utilitarian’s, pleasure and pain...
Words: 1764 - Pages: 8
...Assess Utilitarianism The idea Utilitarianism is a branch of consequentialism (the consequences of your actions are the basis of which morality is judged) which are both part of normative ethics. Utilitarianism can be summed up easily by describing it as the actions which “creates the greatest happiness to the greatest number” as the most moral one. A key philosopher that supports Utilitarianism was Bentham, he says we live to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Bentham attempts to calculate the perfect moral decision using an almost mathematical approach. Pleasures are put into the currency of “hedons” and pain as “dollars” by working out the implications of these pleasures and pains by evaluating them by their “intensity, duration, certainty and remoteness” we can use Bentham’s calculator to find out the most moral decision, and the one which is going to cause the most happiness and least pain. However this method can be deemed crude and to rigid for making moral decisions and another philosopher, J S Mill tries to develop it. Part of J S Mills theory for utilitarianism can be summed up in 6 steps. 1. Happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable as an end. 2. The sole evidence o prove that anything is desirable is that people do actually desire it 3. Each person desires their own happiness 4. Each person’s happiness is desirable 5. Each person’s happiness is good 6. The general happiness of all is ultimate good. What Mill adds to Bentham’s theory is the introduction...
Words: 419 - Pages: 2
...maximise happiness? Define utilitarianism: Is an ethical theory in normative ethics that has a core belief that the actions can be judged as right or wrong if they lead to a good consequence. Define: Act utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism created by Jeremy Bentham. Act utilitarianism is a theory that states happiness can be calculated via the 'the hedonistic calculus'. This included factors such as profundity, intensity, duration and others. Each of these are used in relation to the action and then one can calculate the best outcome. This led to Bentham arguing that every action can be deemed right if it leads to maximising utility. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that actions can be judged to the extent which they maximise happiness However, one can argue that act utilitarianism allows for barbaric actions to be taken place, which seem immoral. For example, torturing thousands of people in order to save millions. This entails some individuals will have to suffer hugely. This leads to swine ethics where cruel actions can be deemed good just because they lead to good consequences. However, one can argue that this form utilitarianism is a favourable one. That's because it is an egalitarian theory, which matches well with the concept of democracy. Since, democracy is for the people, by the people, one can assume that it is therefore right to support the majority. This would mean that act utilitarianism is acting in the interests of majority...
Words: 521 - Pages: 3
...Utilitarianism is a normative system of ethics which features a consequentialist, created in the 18th century by Jeremy Bentham, teleological approach to moral decision making. This means that an act is good based on whether or not the outcome is good (i.e. Its extrinsic value) and there is a focus on the end or purpose of an act. Another key feature of utilitarianism is the principle of utility which aims to provide the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people because its main focus is bringing about hedonism. Util is a universal hedonistic theory which means that the majority of people can apply it to their lives; happiness is available to all. In addition, util features social reform due to dealing with social concerns during the industrial revolution period, such as women and worker’s rights. Bentham was a supporter of the Great Reform Act of 1832 as well as the Factory Acts of 1833 and 1847. GM Trevelyan said that the factory system had been made into an instrument to “level up the average material conditions under which labor is carried”. This means that overtime the factory system has improved to benefit the working people which is what utilitarianism aims to do. In his book “An Introduction to the Principle of Morals and Legislation” Bentham wrote that “nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure”. By this he meant that the choices we make are governed by pleasure and pain (aka the two sovereign masters), so...
Words: 311 - Pages: 2
...Utilitarianism ENG300 Information Literacy Assessment [Type the author name] This paper will discuss utilitarianism, its origins and how we can apply it to our lives today. I will show what would happen if everyone adopted this code of ethics and reasoning, and why I chose it. Utilitarianism What is Utilitarianism? According to our textbooks, utilitarianism is the ethical system which believes that which is ethical is what will bring the greatest good or happiness to the greatest number of people (Turner, 2006). In a direct quote from the American Heritage Dictionary, utilitarianism is the ethical theory proposed by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill that all action should be directed toward achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language). Though there are many varieties of the view discussed, utilitarianism is generally held to be the view that the morally right action is the action that produces the most good. There are many ways to spell out this general claim. One thing to note is that the theory is a form of consequentialism: the right action is understood entirely in terms of consequences produced. What distinguishes utilitarianism from egoism has to do with the scope of the relevant consequences. On the utilitarian view one ought to maximize the overall good — that is, consider the good of others as well as one's own good (Driver, 2009).A well-known dialogue by Leonard...
Words: 865 - Pages: 4
