UTILITARIANISM

ETHICS
Lesson 1. PRINCIPLE OF ULTILITY

WHAT IS UTILITARIANISM?
- “utility” which refers to the usefulness of the consequences of one’s actions.
- that argues for the goodness of pleasure and the determination of right behavior.
- directed toward the experience of the greatest pleasure over pain for the greatest number of person.

According to Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

- utility refers to understanding the results of people’s actions.
- Happiness is the experience of pleasure for the greatest number of persons, even at the expense of
some individual rights.
- The pursuit for pleasure and pain are in fact the only principle in assessing action’s morality
- The natural preferability of pleasure Mill refers to as theory of life.
- His view of theory of life was monistic: There is one thing, and one thing only, that is
intrinsically desirable, namely Pleasure.

The Principle of Utility

- Refers to our subjection to our sovereign masters: pleasure and pain
- Refers to the motivation of our actions as guided by our avoidance of pain and our desire for
Pleasure.
- Refers to pleasure is only good if and only if, they produce more happiness than unhappiness.

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

- He argued that our actions are governed by two sovereign masters – which he calls “pleasure and
pain”.
- He equates happiness with pleasure.
- Felicific Calculus.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

- He reiterates moral good as happiness, and consequently happiness as pleasure.
- He clarifies that what makes people happy is intended pleasure and what makes us unhappy is the
privation of pleasure.
- He argues that we act and do things because we find them pleasurable and we avoid doing things
because they are painful.
- He thinks that the principle of utility must distinguish pleasure qualitatively and not merely
quantitatively.

Lesson 2. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE GREATEST NUMBER

According to John Stuart Mill,

Equating happiness with pleasure does not aim to describe the utilitarian moral agent and independently
from others. it is also about the pleasure of the greatest number affected by the consequence of our actions.

Lesson 3. JUSTICE AND MORAL RIGHTS

John Stuart Mill understands JUSTICE as respect for rights directed toward society’s pursuit for the
greatest happiness of the greatest number. MORAL RIGHTS is a valid claim on society and are justified by utility.
Summary
Bentham and Mill see moral good as pleasure, not merely self-gratification, but also the for the greatest
number of people. We are compelled to do whatever increases pleasure and decreases pain to the most number of
persons, counting each as one and none as more than one.

In determining the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people, there is no distinction
between Bentham and Mill. Bentham suggests his felicific calculus, a framework for quantifying moral valuation.
Mill provides criterion for comparative pleasures. He thinks that persons who experience two different types of
pleasures generally prefer higher intellectual pleasures to base sensual ones.

However, he also claims that in extreme circumstances, respect for individual rights can be
overridden to promote better welfare especially in circumstances of conflict valuation.

NATURAL LAW

Lesson 1. Natural Law

- is a philosophy based on the idea that everyone in a given society shares the same idea of what
constitutes “right” and “wrong.”
- can also be thought of as the basis of “morality.”

Lesson 2. Thomas Aquinas

 Hailed as a doctor of the Roman Catholic Church.
 His Summa Theologiae, his magnus opus, is a voluminous work that comprehensively discusses many
significant points in Christian theology.

THE CONTEXT OF THE CHRISTIAN STORY

- that we are created by God in order to ultimately return to Him.
- His magnus opus, Summa Theologiae follows the trajectory of this story; the three parts are:

1. Aquinas speaks of God, and although we acknowledge that our limited human intellect cannot fully grasp
Him, we nevertheless are able to say something concerning His goodness, His might, and His creative
power.
2. It deals with man or the dynamic of human life. Salvation in only possible through the presence of God’s
grace.
3. It focuses on Jesus as our Savior.

THE CONTEXT OF AQUINAS’ ETHICS

- In our pursuit of happiness, we direct our actions toward specific ends.
- Christian life, therefore, is about developing the capacities given to us by God, into a disposition of
virtue inclined toward the good.

 Aquinas also puts forward that there is within us a conscience that directs our moral thinking.
 So we are called to focus on the voice of conscience and enjoined to develop and maintain a life virtue.
 We can recall how the ethical approach called divine command theory urges a person toward
unthinking obedience to religious precepts.
 Aquinas believes that we should always follow our conscience, even when it is wrong or causes great
harm.
Lesson. 3 THE ESSENCE AND VARIETIES OF LAW

COMMON GOOD- Considering

what is good for the community as
well as our own good.
LAW- The determination of the
proper measure of our acts.