Utilitarianism
Guiding Principle 5
Utilitarianism
• This is an example of an autonomous value
system
• It is a consequentialist system (it is not the
intention behind an action that counts, but the
consequences/outcome of an action)
• This was developed by Jeremy Bentham (17481832) and J.S. Mill (1806-1873)
• Like Kant, they believed there had to be a
universal and objective way to figure out
morality.
• Unlike Kant, they were concerned with the
outcomes rather than the motives of an action.
Bentham
• Bentham thought humans were hedonists – we are
controlled by two things:
– Pleasure (something we want)
– Pain (something we avoid)
• Therefore he thought that people should act in a way that
brings about the greatest amount of pleasure, or the least
amount of pain (for the majority of people).
• “Actions are right to the extent that they produce the
greatest good for the greatest number.”
• This approach makes morality objective and measurable.
• It also means that the role of the individual is lessened – it
means that the person making the decision is a ‘factor’ in the
equation. His own personal feelings do not count – it should
be a rational and objective decision.
Bentham’s Method
• Bentham argued that you cannot ‘see’ what a
person’s intentions are, but you can see the
consequences of what they do.
• In order to figure out whether something is good or
not, he said you have to consider 3 things
– Because humans are essentially hedonists, we measure
the motivations of pleasure and pain
– We do this in general by looking at the principle of
utility: what is most useful is the greatest good for the
greatest number
– We can measure this by using the Hedonistic Calculus:
this weighs up the pleasure and pain by looking at things
like duration, intensity and reach.
Act Utilitarianism
• Bentham was an example of an ‘act utilitarian’
• This means that each situation is seen as different,
and a utilitarian must figure out what to do for each
individual situation by thinking through all possible
outcomes.
• For some Act Utilitarians, the only way to figure out
what to do in a situation is to use the hedonistic
calculus every time.
• There are no universal laws, so it might be
considered the right thing to do to break basic laws
like ‘do not steal’ if it turned out to produce the
greatest happiness for the greatest number.
Rule Utilitarianism
• J.S. Mill was more of a ‘rule utilitarian’.
• He believed that humans knew from experience the kind of
actions that produce pleasure or cause pain.
• Because of this we can come up with general moral
principles that should be followed in the majority of cases.
• For example, the rule ‘do not steal’ usually results in people
being happy and feeling safe, whilst limiting the amount of
pain caused.
• Rule Utilitarians would not feel the need to calculate the
possible outcomes of each situation if they have tried and
tested rules that work with the utilitarian maxim (The
greatest good for the greatest number).
• In this case, if a rule utilitarian could benefit themselves by
breaking a rule (e.g. do not steal), they would not because
breaking these rules in general does not benefit the
majority.
J.S. Mill
• J.S. Mill, a rule utilitarian, also placed an
emphasis on the types of pleasure and pain a
person felt.
• He said that all emotions could not be counted
equally in calculations (like the Hedonistic
Calculus)
• He came up with a system:
– Higher pleasures (gained from education, music, art,
etc)
– Lower pleasures (gained from physical pursuits like
eating and sex)
• It is more important to have more higher
pleasures for the majority than lower pleasures.