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UTILITARIANISM

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UTILITARIANISM

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clarisajoylimbo
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UTILITARIANISM

 An ethical theory whose principal architects were Jeremy Bentham


(1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). It derives Its name from
utility, which means “usefulness”

 The utilitarian says that an act is right (moral) if it is useful in “bringing


about a desirable or good end.

 It has been more characteristically stated, however, as “Everyone


should perform that act or follow that moral rule that will bring about
the greatest good (or happiness) for everyone concerned

A THEORY OF HAPPINESS

If Aristotle’s idea about a virtuous life is considered a theory of human


happiness, utilitarianisms also about happiness.

 Utilitarianism deals with something that is undoubtedly important in


human life, the promotion of happiness.

J.S. Mill once pointed out that even Jesus was also a utilitarian. He claimed
that “In the golden rule of Jesus of Nazareth, we read the complete spirit of
the ethics of utility.” It points to the fact that when the Christians have to
love their neighbors they wish and practice this love for the welfare and
happiness of others.

Utilitarianism and hedonism


Long before utilitarianism there was the classical theory that has come to be
known as HEDONISM (from hedon, the Greek word for pleasure) or
EPICUREANISM (named after picurus, 341-270 BCE).

 For Epicurus, the good life meant avoiding distress and desires for
things beyond one’s basic needs. Bodily pleasure and mental delight
and peace were the goods to be sought in life. This is Ataraxia. Some
words to describe this condition of Ataraxy is calmness or tranquility of
the soul (being free from turmoil, distress)

Epicurus

 Held that a good life was a pleasant life

“pleasure is the goal that nature has ordaaned for us, it is also the standard
by which we judge everything good”

UTILITARIANISM: A revolutionary idea

 The early advocates of utilitarianism considered it as a revolutionary


idea. Unlike theories in the past, this time the theory makes no
reference to
1. To God. Religion, or Tradition

2. to abstract moral rules “written in the heavens”

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

 Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)


 An English-born student of law and the leader of a radical movement
for social and legal reform

Based on utilitarian principles.

 His primary published work was Introduction to the Principles of Morals


and Legislation (1789)
 He was the first to systematize the theory
 He adopted the term ‘utility’ in his arguments in the book. But his first
reference to the term was to Horace (‘utility, the mother of justice and
equity
PLEASURE & PAIN Bentham says in the opening of his book, Introduction
to the Principles of Morals and

PLEASURE AND HAPPINESS

 Utilitarians believe that pleasure or happiness is the good to be


produced.
 Happiness and pleasure are the only intrinsic goods-that is, the only
things good in themselves As Bentham put it. “Nature has placed
mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and
pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well
as to determine what we shall do

According to utilitarianism,

 We ought to decide which action or practice is best by considering the


likely or actual consequences of each alternative.
 Utilitarians reject the idea that certain acts are intrinsically good or evil
(except, e.g., pleasure and pain)

HEDONIC CALCULUS

 Bentham invented utility calculus or hedonic calculus


 It is the system for measuring pleasure and pain of the act or decision.
 The score for any pleasure or pain experienced is obtained by adding
up the seven aspects of a pleasurable or painful experience its
mrensity, duration, certainty, nearness, fruitfulness, purity, and extent

Calculation seven elements

 In addition to counting each person equally. Bentham and his followers


identified 7 elements that are used to calculate the greatest amount of
happiness

1. Purity or the net amount of pleasure or happiness,


2. Its intensity
3. Its duration
4. Fecundity or its fruitfulness
5. Certainty or uncertainty: the likelihood that pleasure will occur

Eudaimonistic Utilitarianism

 Higher-order pleasures or satisfactions intellectual, aesthetic, social


enjoyments, etc.

HAPPINESS is defined in terms of higher and lower types

 Lower, or elementary, pleasures


 Include eating, drinking, sexuality, resting, and sensuous titillation

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