UTILITARIANISM

Utilitarianism TYPES OF COSEQUENTIALISM:

- classified / a kind of consequentialism 1. egoism – maximizes good results for ourselves only
- concept is majority win 2. utilitarianism – for everyone affected by our action
- do not universally accept hedonism but rather the 3. hedonism – evaluate consequences solely in terms of
satisfaction of everyone, and that everyone must benefit pleasure and pain
and not only yourself. 4. pluralism – in terms of variety of goods
- indirectly applying “rule of thumbs”–means may precedent
na MAJOR DIFFERENCES OF CONSEQUENTIALISM AND NON-
CONSEQUENTILISM:
2 FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN UTILITARIANISM:
CONSEQUENTIALISM NON CONSEQUENTIALISM
1. The action produces positive outcome or consequences
2. To the greater good of the greater number of people based on the consequences based on the reason

Note: both factors must be present in order to consider it as choose what produces the
do not regard to the
utilitarianism. If one is missing, we can already say that it does maximum good for the great
consequences
not show utilitarianism concept. number of people
doing whatever as long as it what matter is the innate
NORMATIVE ETHICS produces good outcome good or bad
Normative Ethics disregard the potential result
- “how we ought to live” or result of your choices or
actions
2 FORMS OF NORMATIVE ETHICS:
 Consequentialism do not determine the choices
you make
- Umbrella term of utilitarianism
- It maximizes good consequences
DIFFERENCES OF CONSEQUENTIALISM AND NON-
- (under nya ang utilitarianism)
CONSEQUENTILISM:
Ex. Your mother has a stage 4 cancer and you decided not to - the kind and extent of the people affected by your action;
tell her because you didn’t want her to get scared and worry. - and on how it is done
Your intention is that you only like to see you mother happy. - Consequentialism has a greater number of the affected
people rather than utilitarianism.
 Non-Consequentialism
- innate right and wrong
Ex. You mother has a stage 4 cancer and you decided to tell her
because she deserves to know the truth, even if it will hurt her.
 Origin And Nature Of The Theory
Classical / Act Utilitarianism
- We ought always to do whatever brings about the greatest
balance of pleasure over pain for everyone affected by our
action
- We ought to do the act with the best consequences
 Robin Hood
- if the action is bad but produces greater good for the
greater number of people then it is good
- if the action is good and produces good in few people
then it is not considered utilitarianism
- if the action is bad and produces good in a few people
then it is not considered utilitarianism
- if the action is good and produces greater good for the
greater number of people, then it is good.
 Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832, England)
- “The said truth is that it is the greatest happiness of
the greatest number that is the measure of rights and
wrong (1798)”
- known as the founder of utilitarianism
- apply his empirical beliefs to moral and political
theories
- has an empiricism (from David Hume) point of view:
meaning it is based on the experiences of one person.
- happiness is equal to utility
- human subscribes to hedonism
- focuses on the presence of pleasure over pain
- social hedonism: happiness of the community and
just one’s own.
- moral maxim: greatest amount of happiness for the
greatest number
If happiness is the measurement, how it is defined then? - -
- Bentham claimed that happiness is pleasure, thus all kinds
of pleasure is acceptable—this is subjective. - We need to
weigh kung ano yung mas magbebenefit ang lahat and to
identify it we will be using Hedonistic Calculus.
THE HEDONISTIC CALCULUS:
1. Intensity: gaano katindi/level
2. Duration: how long the pleasure will be felt
3. Certainty: how sure are you that you will experience that
pleasure
4. Proximity: how close or far these pleasure will be felt
5. Quantity: how many times did you felt the pleasure
6. Fecundity: how frequent
7. Purity: there will be no pain
8. Extent: who will be affected negatively or positively
 It is more useful to apply utilitarianism indirectly, by applying
“rule of thumb” about what actions tend to have good or bad
results.
Direct application is useful when:
1. Face with big decisions
2. Moral rules conflict
3. To arrive at moral rules
Note: The case of exceptionless rules
Duty depends not on culture but on what has better
consequences. So smoking is wrong if it causes great misery
and pain—regardless of whether society approves it.
  John Stuart Mill
- “I have learned to seek happiness by limiting my
desires rather than attempting to satisfy them”
- popularized utilitarianism, as influenced by Bentham
- found out that the secret to happiness is the limitation
of desire
- happiness of someone does not equate with the
happiness of another person
- ex. yung kasiyahan kong gumala ay hindi kasing
equal nung kasiyahan na makukuha ni charisse sa
pagpasa sa board exam
- Mill’s concept is limiting desires
- quality of pleasure felt must be measured rather than
quantity
- different forms of pleasure must be ranked according
to how valuable they are
KIND OF PLEASURE:
o Higher Form – those that will allow us to exercise human
being’s higher faculties; intellectual
ex. reading books
o Lower Form – physical/bestial
ex. playing outside
Note: There is no definite answer whether something is a higher
or lower form of pleasure. We first need to experience it to
consider it as a higher or lower form of pleasure.
Rule Utilitarianism
- We ought to do what would be prescribed by the rules with
the best consequences for people in the society to follow
- Based on rationalism and law to avoid secularism
- Evaluate consequences based on preference and pluralism
- Not all utilitarianism evaluate consequences by pleasure
and pain; some are based on preference and pluralism
o Preference – problems is people can have bad or
foolish desires; some people revenge for its own sake;
can have bad desire
o Pluralism – doubt that mere knowledge or virtue in
itself, apart from enjoyment of it, has any intrinsic
value; all action is acceptable even though it is good or
bad
Implication:
1. Enlightened moral thinking would reject utilitarianism –
lynching
- Considered right if the majority of people believe that it
is the right thing to do.
- Basis of conviction: pieces of evidences
2. A utilitarian philosopher hired to give a moral justification to
slavery
3. You maximize pleasure by secretly killing your miserable
rich father
4. Utilitarianism permits any harm to the individuals for the
sake of the general rule
5. Bring same pleasure and pain results by either honest or
dishonest means
Reason why rule utilitarianism is born: PROBLEMS OF RULE UTILITARIANISM
- Recognize the usefulness of following strict rules 1. Why should you have a duty to follow simplistic rules,
- Two changes from classical utilitarianism especially if you could produce better results by breaking
a. Move from hedonism to pluralism them?
b. Move from act utilitarianism to rule utilitarianism 2. Even if it would generally lead to the right judgements,
- a. Move from hedonism to pluralism would seem to do so for the wrong reasons
- What things are intrinsically good?
 Pleasure is intrinsically good
 Pain is intrinsically bad
- Methodology
- Follow intuition, feelings, socially approved
- Follow a rationality approach

FACTORS TO CONSIDER RULE UTILITARIANISM:

1. We should evaluate consequences in terms of various
goods, including virtue, knowledge, pleasure, life, and
freedom
2. We ought to follow the rules with the best consequences
for society to follow
3. Avoids bizarre implications of utilitarianism
4. Its stress on strict rules would have better results for the
society in the long run