Wendy Lewis Only!!!
2/23/2017
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Consequences Matter —
UtilitarianismChapter 3
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you w ill be able to:3.1 Define “Utilitarianism” and understand the moral choices and consequences of this philosophy as they apply to real life.3.2 Articulate the relation of general happiness to Utilitarian arguments according to Bentham and Mill.3.3 Critically analyze whether and how one might distinguish between one happiness and another.3.4 Discuss Utilitarianism as it may apply to contemporary moral questions.
Teleological Theories
Focus on the consequences of actions. Right actions are equated w ith those that produce things of value. 2/23/2017
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Utilitarianism
U tilitarianism -an act is good if it maximizes the greatest amount of good.An act is right if and only if no other act available to the moral agent maximizes utility more than the act decided upon.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism -an act is good if it maximizes the greatest amount of good, pleasure, or utility.Bentham -greatest overall Quantity . The hedonic calculus can be used to evaluate potential pleasure.Mill -Quality w ill lead to quantity of pleasure. Higher pleasures are better than low er pleasures.
Bentham claims that:
"Nature has placed mankind under two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. I t is for them alone to point out w hat w e ought to do, as w ell as determine w hat w e shall do" 2/23/2017
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Principle of Utility
By the principle of utility he means, "that principle w hich approves and disapproves of every action w hatsoever, according to the tendency w hich it appears to have to augment or diminish happiness".
Hedonic Calculus
Acts of pleasure - IntensityDurationCertainty Propinquity -(nearness) Consequences - Fecundity -the chances that it will be followed by more of the same, Purity -the chances that the pleasure will not be followed by pain Extent -the number of people it affects
Quality over Quantity
"I t is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied...It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied." 2/23/2017
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Higher vs. Lower Pleasures
“I f one of the tw o [pleasures] is, by those w ho are competently acquainted w ith both, placed so far above the other that they… w ould not resign it for any quantity of the other pleasure w hich their nature is capable of, w e are justified in ascribing to the preferred enjoyment a superiority in quality, so far outw eighing quantity as to render it, in comparison, of small account.”
Mill Claims:
Mill claims that the Hedonic calculus is impossible because the nature of pain and pleasure are such that no meaningful standard can be established to w eigh one pleasure against one pain. He thinks that QU ALI TY pleasures w ill lead to a greater quantity of pleasure.
Utilitarianism is not Egoism
"The happiness w hich forms the utilitarian standard of w hat is right conduct, is not the agent’s ow n happiness, but that of all concerned..." I n this w ay, the rightness or w rongness of an act is not based upon the consequences of pain and pleasure for yourself, but also those consequences for others.