Sophia Andrea Dizon

MMA 202

Guide Questions:

1. What is utilitarianism? Differentiate Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism with that of John

Stuart Mill.

Utilitarianism promotes action that can result to the pleasure for the greater good.
It suggests that an action is morally right if the majority of the people benefit from it.

The main differences between Bentham theory and Mill theory are: Bentham
advocated that the pleasures and the pains differ in quantity and not in quality. He
said that pains and pleasures can be computed mathematically. But Mill said that pain
and pleasure can't be measured arithmetically they differ in quality only.

2. What are some of the benefits and problems with having utility as the one standard by
which to judge all pleasures?
The greatest benefit of having utility as a single standard by which to judge all
pleasures is that it makes it possible to compare different kinds of happiness.
The problem with having utility is every individual has different kinds of
happiness and pleasure, one solution won’t be able to give them all a happiness.

3. Are all pleasures commensurable? Can they be evaluated on a single scale? Can some
goods, like friendships, be balanced against other goods like money? Why/why not?

Not all pleasures are commensurable. You cannot weight physical/ materials
things with friendships and family. In support, John Stuart Mill divide pleasure into two
 categories: the higher and the lower pleasure. Higher pleasure (friendship and family)
have higher values compared to money (which I consider as lower pleasure.

Higher and lower pleasure can differ, it depends to an individual.

4. Do you think utilitarianism questions individual rights? Why/why not? What will happen
if violating the civil rights of a minority increases the sum total of pleasure of the
majority?

In my opinion, Utilitarianism questions individual rights. There are many

possibilities where a person may act wrongly or cross the line just to get what they
wanted to achieve their happiness. Even if the affected people is just a minor number,
they will still be oppressed and their individual rights will be affected.

5. Do you think utilitarianism supports divorce in the Philippines? Why/why not?

Utilitarianism supports divorce in a Philippines for a reason that, divorce is

mostly caused by unhappy marriage life. In order to pursue happiness, the married couple
will have to divorce to be free from pain and achieve happiness in life.