Preview

Explain The Key Ideas Of Utilitarianism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
972 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Explain The Key Ideas Of Utilitarianism
Examine the key ideas of utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a relativist, consequentialist and teleological system of ethics based on the idea of ‘utility’. This means usefulness and utilitarian suggest that everyone should be the most useful thing. The theory was devised by Jeremy Bentham who said “an action is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number”. He believed human beings are motivated by pleasure and pain.
Bentham lived in an era of great social and scientific change and unrest; he wanted to produce a modern and rational approach to morality. He was hedonist and believed that humans naturally pursued pleased and tried to avoid pain, he created the hedonic calculus in which happiness is measured with seven different elements including duration of happiness, the intensity of it and the purity of it. His theory is also known as the act utilitarianism – this is the belief that solutions to situations might change depending on the consequences of the act. He says ‘by
…show more content…
Mills then developed higher pleasure and lower pleasure; lower pleasures would be physical pleasures such as sex, alcohol while higher pleasures would be things like love and friendship and believed everyone would desire higher pleasure ‘it is better to be a pig dissatisfied than a pig satisfied’. Therefore, rule utilitarianism fits more with John Mills theory as this means moral rules are formulated based on utilitarian principles and the individual can apply these situations to judge whether the act is acceptable or

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism is a teleological theory which looks at the consequences of an act to decide whether it is right or wrong. There are lots of strengths to utilitarianism and not many weaknesses. One of the strengths is that it is a theory which established whether something was good or bad according to the majority of people. Bentham came up with this theory and it is known as the principle of utility. Bentham said ‘Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them to point out what we shall do’. This is the foundation for the principle of utility and it is a strength to utilitarianism as pleasure and pain can determine how people act. Bentham also said the aim of utilitarianism is ‘the greatest good of the greatest number’ and he used the Hedonic Calculus that he created to measure how good an act is and how many people it will affect, this is a major strength of utilitarianism because it tries to please everyone and each individual is equal. A weakness of Bentham’s view was noticed by Mill, Mill said it failed to differentiate humans from animals as animals can share the same pleasures that humans have, so this make human beings equal to animals. Mill also said that Bentham’s Hedonic Calculus was a weakness as it was too impractical as to use it you have to think of the; purity, intensity, certainty, extent, duration and fecundity of an act. In some situations this would be pointless as there might not be time to complete the Hedonic Calculus. For example is your house was on fire and you only had time to save either you cat or your dog you would not be able to think through the Hedonic Calculus as by the time you have your house would be burnt to the ground. This is a weakness to Bentham’s theory but not to utilitarianism because you can still please the majority without looking at the Hedonic Calculus every time you want to complete an act.Bernard…

    • 517 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism = an ethical philosophy that says the most ethical decision or course of action is the one that maximize utility.…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Classical Utilitarianism is a moral philosophy, which was developed in 19th century England by Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and Henry Sidgwick. The essential feature a utilitarian reside in, is the notion that an action is right if it produces the most amount of happiness well limiting suffering. Utilitarianism focuses solely on the consequences of the action, in an attempt to bring about the most happiness from each situation, well ensuring everybody’s happiness is equally considered.…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes overall happiness. Utilitarianism can be characterized as a quantitative and reductionist approach to ethics. It can be contrasted with deontological ethics which does not regard the consequences of an act as a determinant of its moral worth.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism is the ethical theory behind justifying an action for being for the greater good. This is a teleological theory because it looks at the consequences of an action. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory. There are three types of utilitarianism: Act, Rule and Preference. Jeremy Bentham began the Utilitarianism theory. Utilitarianism is a hedonistic theory because it is based on pleasure and happiness. Each utilitarian has a different theory of Utilitarianism and this will be explained in my essay.…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    trolley problem

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I believe the theory which makes most sense is Jeremy Bentham’s theory of the hedonic calculus. However due to many decisions and actions having to be made in a matter of seconds, I can’t see it being practical in everyday life. The process of the hedonic calculus can take a matter of hours let alone minuets, and by following the process step-by step the decision that had to be made may have already passed. In relation to John mills theory of maximum pleasure and minimal pain, I strongly disagree that this is the correct answer for many ethical situations. Everyone’s pleasures are different and individual, for you to make a decision this can become a hindrance as it’s hard to define how to receive the maximum happiness from every individual. Using this theory in just a situation when it’s just your happiness involved however is a simple process, as you will know your preferences and what makes you happy. However when using this theory in a situation with more than one person it becomes a very complicated situation.…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) developed his ethical system of utilitarianism around the idea of pleasure. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) later furthered and many believe he improved Bentham’s theory (Mill is often linked to Rule Utilitarianism) but still followed many of his original ideas. The theory is based on ancient hedonism, which pursued physical pleasure and avoided physical pain. Hedonism saw human beings as “Under the governance of two sovereign masters of pain and pleasure.” So a key concept that Bentham developed was the belief we are controlled by the desire to seek out pleasure and avoid pain bringing about the greatest happiness principle which is choosing the path that gives the greatest amount of people the greatest amount of happiness and the least amount of pain. This makes the theory eudaimonic.…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Utilitarianism, the theory that actions are right if they useful for the majority, the greatest happiness and pleasure for the greatest and majority of people. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was an English moral philosopher concerned with social reform, Bentham wanted people to seek pleasure and avoid pain. On the other hand John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) who was a great admirer of Bentham; however, he believed in the principle of utility and the idea that please should be ranked according to quality not quantity. For example: eating a mars bar is a poorer pleasure compared to listening to poetry. Mill believing in pleasures of the mind is greater than pleasures of the body (eating). Within this essay I shall be discussing the different views of Bentham and Mill and how their theories are strengths for the utilitarian system.…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The theory of utilitarianism was devised by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), an English philosopher, who gave us the general principle which is used in Bentham and Mill’s theory of utilitarianism and act and rule utilitarianism. The general principle which utilitarianism is based around is the idea of maximising pleasure and minimising pain.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism revolves around the concept of “the end justifies the means.” It believes that outcomes as a result of an action have a greater value compared to the latter, the morally right action is the action that produces the most good. It also states that the most ethical thing to do is to take advantage of happiness for the good of the society. This normative theory considers the overall good for all people and not just a single person.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When he states his place, Bentham seems to have taken into account all of the variables. He affirms that the standards of right and wrong, and the chains of cause and effect, will influence what exactly promotes pleasure and prevents pain (306). He also recognizes that the quantity of people being affected is a contributing factor as to whether something is ultimately beneficial or detrimental (311). Drawing upon these recognized facts, Bentham goes so far as to create a virtual mathematical equation for determining utility;…

    • 1260 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism was originally formulated by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century, and fully developed by John Stewart Mill in the 19th. It states that we should always act so as to produce the greatest ratio of good to evil for everyone concerned with our decision. As with all moral theories, utilitarianism has many strengths and weaknesses.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Good and Evil in High Noon

    • 1373 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Utilitarianism is an ethical theory most often ascribed to the philosopher John Stuart Mill. The utilitarian theory suggests actions and/or intentions are not right or wrong; rather the morality of a choice or act is determined by the outcome or result. Utilitarian’s believe outcomes can be determined in advance of an action and the ethical choice is one which provides the best result or most happiness for the greatest number of individuals (e.g., pleasure, happiness, health, knowledge, satisfaction). The utility theory asserts morality is a means to some other end, it does not stand on its own as being intrinsically moral.…

    • 1373 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Teleology

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Bentham, an ethical theorist, wanted to make ethics simple and practical, so he developed as system for measuring the amount of pleasure and pain that an action would produce. His system was called the “hedonistic calculus”. These actions can be measured and used to compare the results of different actions in order to choose the one that will produce the most happiness and least pain for the most people. The seven aspects to consider are:…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism is the ethical viewpoint that every decision should be based on trying to create the most amount of “good” for the most people. The “good” in this case is the utility – the positive consequence we should strive for. Utility is the foundation of utilitarianism, as the name suggests, and it keeps the welfare of people as its highest consideration. Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher, proposed his own idea of how utilitarianism should work. He determined that utility could be measured based on pleasure and, conversely, that there must be something opposite of pleasure – pain.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics