ETHICS

UTILITARIANISM
GROUP 4
 UTILITARIANISM
CRITERIA FOR DECISION AND
INTRODUCTION
01 Utilitarianism and its nature
proponents of Utilitarianism
03 BEHAVIOR
How do we make decisions
from a Utilitarian
Perspective?
Two types of Utilitarianism
PRINCIPLES OF UTILITARIANISM LIMITATIONS AND CRITICISMS

02 Mill’s Greatest Happiness

for Greatest Number, Justice
and Moral Rights, Happiness
04
Limits & common critiques
Bernard William's Critiques
of Utilitarianism
 UTILITARIALISM
UTILITARIANISM IN
05 PSYCHOLOGY
Effective Altruism
Impartial Beneficence and
Instrumental Harm
Sacrificial Dilemmas
Paradigm
 THE CASE OF JIM AND NATIVE AMERICANS
BY BERNARD WILLIAM

A MAN NAMED JIM FINDS HIMSELF IN FRONT OF A

ROW OF TWENTY NATIVE AMERICANS. JIM IS THE
GUEST OF THE DAY, AND AS SUCH HE GETS THE
PRIVILEGE OF KILLING ONE OF THE NATIVE
AMERICANS. IF JIM KILLS ONE OF THE NATIVE
AMERICANS, HE WILL SAVE THE OTHERS. HOWEVER,
IF JIM REFUSES SUCH AN HONOR, A MAN NAMED
PEDRO WILL KILL ALL OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS.
WHAT SHOULD JIM DO?
01 A moral theory that focuses on the results,
UTILITARIANISM or consequences of our actions, and treats
AND ITS NATURE intentions as irrelevant

INTENTION = IRRELEVANT
GOOD CONSEQUENCES = GOOD INTENTION

Utilitarianism has a root word "utility" which

means useful.
In utilitarianism, morality is centered on
useful actions.
01
"Action is measured in terms of
UTILITARIANISM
the happiness, or pleasure, that
AND ITS NATURE they produce."

A good action promotes pleasure and

happiness

A bad action promotes pain and

unhappiness
01 Utilitarianism is also known as Hedonistic Moral
Theory
UTILITARIANISM good is equal to the pleasant, and we ought,
AND ITS NATURE morally, to pursue pleasure and happiness, and work
to avoid pain.

Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism

Consequences of any action are the only standard
of right and wrong.

Versions of Consequentialism
Utilitarianism
Altruism
Egoism
01 In comparison with all its version..

UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism is not an Egoistic Theory
AND ITS NATURE everyone ought, morally to pursue their own good

Utilitarianism is "other-regarding"
We should pursue pleasure or happiness-not just
for ourselves, but for as many sentient beings as
possible
 "WE SHOULD ACT ALWAYS SO AS TO
PRODUCE THE GREATEST GOOD FOR THE
GREATEST NUMBER"
01
THE NATURE OF
UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism is an effort to provide an answer to
the practical question,

?
WHAT
OUGHT A
PERSON
TO DO
EPICURUS OF SAMOS
Ancient greek philosopher
How to make decisions that lead to the
greatest amount of happiness
Hedonist - person who focuses their
life on maximizing pleasure

Subtheory of utilitarianism
Pleasure - absence of pain on the
body and trouble in the soul

However, he recommended the

cultivation of prudence
EPICURUS OF SAMOS

CARPE DIEM
His philosophy is the early form of
utilitarianism.
 JEREMY BENTHAM
born February 15, 1748 in London,
England; died June 6, 1832 in
London
Father of Utilitarianism
He was influenced both by Hobbes'
account of human nature and
Hume's account of social utility.
Human Nature
humans were ruled by two sovereign
masters —pleasure and pain.
 JEREMY BENTHAN
Published a book An Introduction to
the Principles of Morals and
Legislation in 1789

“That property in any object whereby it tends

to produce pleasure, good or happiness, or to
prevent the happening of mischief, pain, evil or
unhappiness to the party whose interest is
considered.”
 JOHN STUART MILL
Born on May 20, 1806 in
London, United Kingdom; died on
May 7, 1873 in France
A follower of Bentham
He added the criteria of ‘quality’
to Bentham’s calculus in order
to create ‘higher’ and ‘lower’
quality pleasures
 JOHN STUART MILL
Mill's hedonism was influenced by
perfectionist intuitions or what some
called qualitative hedonism
Intellectual pleasures are of a higher,
better, sort than the ones that are
merely sensual, and that we share with
animals.
The aim of increasing happiness
underlies his arguments for women's
suffrage and free speech.
 PRINCIPLES OF

02 UTILITARIANISM
Mill’s Greatest Happiness for
Greatest Number, Justice and
Moral Rights, Happiness
02 WHAT IS HAPPINESS?
It is Pleasure and the absence of pain
Pleasure can be distinguished not only
quantitatively, but qualitatively as well

Higher Pleasure 'mental' pleasure such as

mind, intellect, will or anything that makes
yourself more human.

Lower Pleasure - pleasure of the body

People who are equally acquainted with both

higher and lower pleasures prefer the former.
02 PRINCIPLES OF UTILITARINISM
1. GREATEST HAPPINESS PRINCIPLE
"Actions are right if they promote hapiness and
wrong if they promote unhappiness "

2. PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL CONSIDERATION

Happiness to be achieved is for everyone not for
self - interest.
 CRITERIA FOR
DECISION AND

03 BEHAVIOR
How do we make decisions from a
Utilitarian Perspective?

Two types of Utilitarianism

03
HOW DO WE MAKE
MORAL DECISIONS
IN A UTILITARIAN
SYSTEM
We should act upon or make decisions
from a position of a benevolent
disinterested spectator

There is goodwill yet we are emotionally

unattached.

Unbiased judgments and a choice of what's the

best

We are just spectators, not participants.

At the same time, it is considered as a

DEMANDING MORAL THEORY
THE DECISION TO CONSIDER FROM A
UTILITARIAN PERSPECTIVE

1. Act Utilitarianism (Classical Utilitarianism)

In any given situation, we should choose the action that produces the
greatest good for the greatest number

2. Rule Utilitarianism
We ought to live by rule that in general, are likely to lead to the greatest
good for the greatest number.

Allow us to refrain from acts that might maximize the utility in the short run,
and instead follow rules that will maximize utitility for the majority of the
time
THE DECISION TO CONSIDER FROM A
UTILITARIAN PERSPECTIVE

2. Rule Utilitarianism continued...

Rule utilitarianism may sound like Kant's categorical imperative -taking a moral
rule and universalizing it.

Kant asks, "If we universalized it, would it lead to logical contradictions?"

Rule Utilitarianist asks, "If we universalized it, what would be its

consequences for the people's lives and consequences?

Ex: In Crash Course, Batman could be a rule utilitarian and still not kill
Joker if he deemed that "killing bad people" was an action that if
universalized would lead to less happiness in the long run.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACT AND RULE
UTILITARIANISM

ACT UTILITARIANISM RULE UTILITARIANISM

Considers only the results or Considers and measures the

consequences of the single act when consequences of the act repeated over
judging if that action was good. and over again through time as if it were
to be followed as a rule whenever similar
circumstances arise

"result or consequences focused" "good general rules focused"

 CASE STUDY
Jo is ill, and experiences pain, and dysfunction.
The doctor performs a series of tests and
examinations on him. After a few weeks, he
returns to the doctor's office to learn of the
results, the diagnosis, and the prognosis.
A. Should Jo know the truth or should
he be told something other than the
truth? Which is better?
B. Which is the right thing to do? What
would be GOOD to do?

ACT UTILITARIANISM
The doctor is aware that the tests all show that
Jo has an incurable and life-threatening
disease. In fact, even under the most aggressive
treatment option, there is only a survival rate RULE UTILITARIANISM
of less than 15% for two years. The doctor is
considering what would be GOOD to tell Jo.
 RULE UTILITARIANISM

ACT UTILITARIANISM

THE DOCTOR HAS 2 CHOICES:

Telling truth
making up a story

DECISION: The Act Utilitarian might calculate

that the GOOD is to lie
 ACT UTILITARIANISM
RULE UTILITARIANISM

Long-term consequences
calculate that people would no longer be able
to trust their doctors

DECISION: The Rule Utilitarian might calculate

that there is far more harm in lying and so the
GOOD is to tell the truth
 LIMITATIONS AND

04 CRITICISM
Limits & common critiques
Bernard William's Critiques of
Utilitarianism
 IT TENDS TO CREATE A
BLACK-AND-WHITE
CONSTRUCT OF MORALITY
CANNOT PREDICT WITH UNCERTAINTY
THE CONCEQUENCES OF OUR ACTIONS
 UTILITARIANISM ALSO
HAS TROUBLE
ACCOUNTING FOR
VALUES LIKE JUSTICE
AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
HUMAN HAPPINESS IS IMPOSSIBLE TO QUANTIFY
THE DEMANDINGNESS OF OBJECTION

It claims that utilitarianism is

overly demanding because it

requires excessive self-sacrifice
from us to help others.
"Utilitarianism does not distinguish what we ourselves do
from that which we only allow to happen "

by Bernard William
 A MAN NAMED JIM FINDS HIMSELF IN
IN UTILITARIAN
FRONT OF A ROW OF TWENTY NATIVE PERSPECTIVE:
AMERICANS. JIM IS THE GUEST OF THE
DAY, AND AS SUCH HE GETS THE
PRIVILEGE OF KILLING ONE OF THE Jim should shoot one Native
NATIVE AMERICANS. IF JIM KILLS ONE American to save the life of the 19
OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS, HE WILL
SAVE THE OTHERS. HOWEVER, IF JIM
people.
REFUSES SUCH AN HONOR, A MAN
NAMED PEDRO WILL KILL ALL OF THE
NATIVE AMERICANS. WHAT SHOULD "Pain is pain regardless of who
JIM DO? experiences it."
 UTILITARIANISM

05 IN PSYCHOLOGY
Effective Altruism
Impartial Beneficence and
Instrumental Harm
Sacrificial Dilemmas Paradigm
Utilitarianism in Psychology

• Seeks to identify the uses of our resources that

Effective Altruism
will, when objectively weighed, result in the greatest
good and then act in accordance with those findings.

• "How can we serve others the most effectively

Greaves, H. & Pummer, T. (2019). using our resources?”
 Effective Altruism Utilitarianism
Does not force us to Believes that we are
give up our own require to sacrifice our
interests just because own interests which
doing so would help will be a benefit to
others more. Focused on improving other people.
wellbeing.
Does not advocate We should always
pursuing the goal of seek to maximize
maximizing well-being In order to accomplish
greater good, many people well-being, whatever
at all times or by all the means or by all
means. in the society make big means.
doesn't connect the sacrifices.
good with a person's Total well-being = GOOD
whole state of
wellbeing.
 Impartial - treating all rivals equally;
Beneficence - good/kindness

Bentham (1789/1983)
Objectively maximize the well-being of all sentient
beings on the earth so that "each is to count for one
and none for more than one," is at the heart of
utilitarianism.
Impartial
Beneficence
Treating the well-being of every individual as equally
important.
Examples:
Donating/Giving:
 A moral actor is allowed to "instrumentally
use, severely harm, or even kill innocent
people to promote the greater good",
Kahane et al., (2018).

Colloquially known as collateral damage.

Examples:
Instrumental If injuring one innocent person is required to help
numerous other innocent individuals, it is ethically
justifiable to do so.

Harm If using political tyranny for a brief, restricted time is the

only way to guarantee the general well and happiness of
the populace, then it should be done.
An innocent person may be subjected to torture if doing so
would be essential to get knowledge that might help stop a
bomb from detonating and killing hundreds of others.
If more lives are ethically rescued overall, it is sometimes
essential for innocent individuals to die as collateral
damage.
 Sacrificial Dilemmas Paradigm

Which essentially asks the negative question of "how willing we are to kill others?

The life of one individual must be sacrificed in order to save the lives of many others.

Trolley problem by Philippa Foot (Should you pull the lever to divert the runaway trolley
onto the side track?)
THANK YOU