Click here to load reader
Nov 17, 2015
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