PRINCIPLE OF THE

GREATEST NUMBER
 Ethical Judgments

• Ethical philosophy differs from the sciences because

it is normative or prescriptive, rather than
descriptive.
• In other words, ethics tell us how we ought to act or
what we should do, while the sciences are more
likely to observe how things are in nature or society.
 Making Ethical Judgments in
Utilitarianism
• Utilitarianism says that the Result or the
Consequence of an Act is the real measure of
whether it is good or bad.
• This theory emphasizes Ends over Means.
• Theories, like this one, that emphasize the results
or consequences are called teleological or
consequentialist.
 Bentham’s Formulation of
Utilitarianism
• Man is under two great masters, pain and
pleasure.
• The great good that we should seek is
happiness. (a hedonistic perspective)
• Those actions whose results increase
happiness or diminish pain are good. They
have “utility.”
• In determining the quantity of happiness that
might be produced by an action, we evaluate
the possible consequences by applying several
values:
• Intensity, duration, certainty or uncertainty.
 Kinds of Utilitarianism
• Consequentialism: The rightness of actions is
determined solely by their consequences.
• Hedonism: Utility is the degree to which an act
produces pleasure. Hedonism is the thesis that
pleasure or happiness is the good that we seek and
that we should seek.
• Maximalism: A right action produces the greatest
good consequences and the least bad.
• Universalism: The consequences to be considered are
those of everyone affected, and everyone equally.
 Two Formulations of Utilitarian
Theory
Greatest Happiness:
Principle of Utility:
We ought to do
The best action is
that which
that which
produces the
produces the
greatest happiness
greatest
and least pain for
happiness and/or
the greatest
reduces pain.
number of people.
 Two Types of Utilitarianism
• Act: An Action is • Rule: An action is right if
right if and only if it and only if it conforms to
produces the a set of rules the general
greatest balance of acceptance of which
pleasure over pain would produce the
for the greatest greatest balance of
number. (Jeremy pleasure over pain for the
Bentham) GREATEST NUMBER.
(John Stuart Mill)
 Application of Utilitarian Theory
• A) You attempt to • B)You attempt to help
help an elderly man an elderly man across
across the street. the street. You stumble
He gets across as you go, he is
safely. knocked into the path
• Conclusion: the Act of a car, and is hurt.
was a good act. • Conclusion: The Act
was a bad act.
 Application of Utilitarian Theory

• If you can use eighty soldiers as a decoy in war, and

thereby attack an enemy force and kill several
hundred enemy soldiers, that is a morally good choice
even though the eighty might be lost.
• If lying or stealing will actually bring about more
happiness and/or reduce pain, Act Utilitarianism says
we should lie and steal in those cases.
 John Stuart Mill’s Adjustments to
Utilitarianism
• Mill argues that we must consider the quality of
the happiness, not merely the quantity.
• For example, some might find happiness with a
pitcher of beer and a pizza. Others may find
happiness watching a fine Shakespearean play.
The quality of happiness is greater with the
latter.
 Mill’s Quality Arguments

“As between his own happiness and that of others,

utilitarianism requires him to be as strictly
impartial as a disinterested and benevolent
spectator. In the golden rule of Jesus of Nazareth,
we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility.
‘To do as you would be done by,’ and ‘to love your
neighbor as yourself,’ constitute the ideal
perfection of utilitarian morality.”
 Criticisms of Utilitarianism
• Utilitarianism plays fast and loose
with God’s commandments. If lying,
stealing, or killing could lead to an
increase of happiness for the
greatest number, we are told we
should lie, steal or kill. Isn’t that a
rejection of God’s commands?
 Mill’s Answer to the “Godless
Theory” Criticism
• What is the nature of God?
– Does God make arbitrary rules just to see if we will
obey?
– Does God make rules that He knows will lead to our
happiness?
• If the latter statement is true, doesn’t it make
sense God would want us to use our God-given
reason to look at the situation?
 Mill’s Answer to the “Godless
Theory” Criticism
“If it be a true belief that God desires, above all
things, the happiness of his creatures, and that this
was his purpose in their creation, utility is not a
godless doctrine, but more profoundly religious than
any other. . . . .whatever God has though fit to reveal
on the subject of morals must fulfill the
requirements of utility in a supreme degree.”
 A Second Criticism of Utilitarianism

If one must decide the probable outcome

of an act before knowing whether it is
good or bad, how can children learn to
evaluate acts, since they know so little of
what consequences might arise from their
actions?
 Mill’s “Rule” Utilitarianism
“ . . . Mankind must by this time have acquired
positive beliefs as to the effects of some actions on
their happiness; and the beliefs which have thus
come down are the rules of morality for the
multitude, and for the philosopher until he has
succeeded in finding better.” Mill concludes,
however, that we should always seek
improvements.
 • Many philosophers hold that we
have certain rights, either from
God, nature, or from a social
contract
• Can the idea of rights be made
Rights and compatible with Utilitarianism?
Utilitarianism • If ignoring rights brings about
more happiness to the greatest
number, should we ignore so-
called rights?
• Mill’s rule-based view in On
Liberty; having a right to liberty
will bring the greatest happiness
Todo Esta en la Mente