CHRISTIAN VALUES

GENERALISM
(CHRISTIAN ETHICS CHAPTER 4)
 GENERALISM EXPLAINED
• Generalism – believe that ethical laws are only generally
binding (not universally binding)
• Utilitarians/Utilitarianism – are not pure antinomians, since
they believe in the value of ethical laws in helping
individuals determine which action will probably bring the
greatest good for the greatest number of people. But they
are not absolutists, since they usually deny that there are
universally binding ethical norms that represent intrinsic
values.
 RULES UTILITARIANS/UTILITARIANISM

• They say that rules should not be broken, but this is

only because of the extrinsic value of the good
results from keeping rules. The rule is kept not
because it is really intrinsically wrong to perform the
forbidden act, but only because making exceptions to
any ethical law is a practice that leads to greater evil
than good. In other words, the act is judged not by its
intrinsic and universal value, but by its results.
 JEREMY BENTHAM: QUALITATIVE
UTILITARIANISM
• Modern generalists is heir to ancient
hedonism, which believed that pleasure is the
greatest good for humans.
• The PLEASURE CALCULUS – and it is for
them alone to point out what we ought to do,
as well as what we shall do.”
 CALCULATING PLEASURE
• If pleasure and the avoidance of pain are the
ends of ethically good acts, then it is
reasonable to ask how one is to measure
relative amount of these two elements.
• Bentham divides his answer into two parts,
one for individual and one for groups.
 FOR THE INDIVIDUAL
• The value of pain and pleasure in itself will be determined by
six factors:
1. intensity
2. duration
3. certainty or uncertainty
4. propinquity or remoteness
5. fecundity (the chances of producing others of its kind)
6. purity (the chances of not producing the opposite kind of
sensation)
 FOR THE GROUP
• The value of pain and pleasure in itself will be determined by six
factors:
1. intensity
2. duration
3. certainty or uncertainty
4. propinquity or remoteness
5. fecundity (the chances of producing others of its kind)
6. purity (the chances of not producing the opposite kind of sensation)
7. extent (the number of persons to whom it extends)
 CALCULATION OF THE GOOD OF AN
ACT FOR A GROUP
• The total balance of pleasure over pain will
give the general good tendency of the act. If
there is more evil than good, then the general
evil tendency will be revealed.
 JOHN STUART MILL: QUALITATIVE
UTILITARIANISM
• Pleasure is defined qualitatively – Mill argued that
pleasures differ in kind, and higher pleasures
are to be preferred over lower ones. Pleasures
do not differ merely in their amount or intensity.
One is higher and more valuable than another
simply because most people who experience
both decidedly prefer one over the other.
 JOHN STUART MILL: QUALITATIVE
UTILITARIANISM
• The reason humans give marked preference to
some pleasures is that they have higher
faculties than animals. “No intelligent human
being would consent to be a fool, even though
they should be persuaded that the fool, the
dunce, or the rascal is better satisfied with his
lot than they are with theirs.”
 JOHN STUART MILL: QUALITATIVE
UTILITARIANISM
• Mill says, “It is better to be a human being
dissatisfied than an pig satisfied, better to be
Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
And if the fool and the pig are of a different
opinion, says Mill, it is because the pig
knows only one side of the question; the fool
knows both sides.
 JOHN STUART MILL: QUALITATIVE
UTILITARIANISM
• There is a qualitative difference between
them, and one is obligated to seek the
highest kind of pleasure for the greatest
number of people.
 ACTIVITY 2
1. In your own words, explain briefly what is Generalism.
2. Do you agree that pleasure and the avoidance of pain
are the ends of ethically good acts? Why and Why not?
3. What can you say about this: “If more people would
benefit from a certain act, and less will suffered from it,
then it is ethically correct to do that act.” Explain your
answer.