Bobby Sok
Personal Ethics
12/1/10
Utilitarianism
There are several ethical theories that many philosophers have attempted to explain the
problems or difficulties in each one. The question is which theory is right or wrong? The ethical
theory that interests me is Utilitarianism, which originated from consequentialism. Jeremy
Bentham was the first to explain this theory followed by John Stuart Mill who revised his
theory. Both theories have several similarities and differences with a few leading problems to
it.
What exactly is Utilitarianism? Mill defines Utilitarianism by The Greatest Happiness
Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong
as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the
absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure.1 This theory is also known
as utility, which is for the most amounts of people. There are two types of pleasures which are
based on quality and quantity. An example of quality pleasure is listening or playing a musical
instrument or doing artistic things, as opposed to quantity pleasure by eating on a daily basis.
The majority of human beings prefer the experience of higher pleasures as to not seek out the
lower levels of pleasure for a “Few human creatures would consent to be changed into any of
the lower animals, for a promise of the fullest allowance of a beast’s pleasures.”2 But it’s still
unclear about what constitutes the greatest good. A general example of Utilitarianism is the
decision whether or not to sacrifice one innocent life to save several innocent lives. From a
Utilitarian perspective, it would be the right choice in sacrificing a life to save several lives.
1
2
Book reference
Book reference
Bobby Sok
Personal Ethics
12/1/10
Utilitarianism is based on promoting the “greatest amount of good,” which in the end leads to
choosing the least bad of several bad options. However, there are several objections to
Utilitarianism that it’s never clear what the outcome will be or if it’s possible to determine
who’ll be affected by it. To only judge the outcome based solely on its action is hard to do
beforehand. Another is the calculation required to determine the right action is complicated
and time consuming. Some occasions are that many individuals are not capable of these
calculations. The theory also fails to recognize any individual rights that could not be
disregarded for the sake of the greatest good. Certainly, even the murder of an innocent life
would seem to be disregarded if it served the greater number.
What is consequentialism? Consequentialism is a component of Utilitarianism along
with hedonism and impartiality; it is about the moral rightness of acts, which holds that
whether an act is morally right depends only on the consequences of that act or of something
related to that act, such as the motive behind the act or a general rule requiring acts of the
same kind.3 Some morality point of consequentialism is to relieve suffering and to spread
happiness, or to make as much freedom as possible in the world, or to change the survival of
our species. Consequentialism by itself does not say what kinds of consequences are good.
Therefore, individuals can agree and disagree on consequentialism about what kind of outcome
is good or bad. For example if you were in charge of setting up speed limits, you could be
thinking that a bad result is death and the fewer deaths the better. Simply the people who die
in accidents were going to die eventually anyway, so a deadly accident doesn’t always mean
3
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consequentialism/
Bobby Sok
Personal Ethics
12/1/10
there are more deaths than there otherwise would’ve been. Therefore what is a good result for
the amount of life on an action adds or subtracts in the world? This explains that deadly
accidents are bad, since an early death means less life, but if only a good kind of result leads
only to the quantity of life, then a long happy life would be no better than a long unhappy life.
Some of the similarities between Utilitarianism and Consequentialism are by using the
outcome of an action to determine the best way to achieve the desired outcome. Another
similarity between the two theories is utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory; therefore it
has all the qualities of the consequentialist formula. The differences between the two leading
theories are utilitarianism is the view that the right actions are those that promote the greatest
amount of pleasure, or the least amount of pain, for all concerned. Whereas consequentialism
is the view that the right act is solely based on its consequences. Jeremy Bentham’s theory is
that all pleasure is only quantity opposed to Mill’s theory that there are two types of pleasure,
quality and quantity.
My point of view on the two theories is I acknowledge them compared to most other
ethical theories. My morals relate to their theory and that each individual being should seek
out happiness and pleasures without harming others for the greater amount. Therefore, it is a
motivation to be happy and spread positive influences on other beings.
In conclusion many philosophers like Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill does an
excellent job in explaining the problems or difficulties in each of their theories. There well
Bobby Sok
Personal Ethics
12/1/10
known for their theories on Utilitarianism and Consequentialism. Both theories have many
similarities and differences among each other.