Utilitarianism • Utilitarianism is the name of a school of moral theory that maintains: – that actions are moral if they produce the greatest benefit – a type of consequentialism Utilitarianism is most opposed to deontological moral theories such as Kantianism. • Aristotelian and Scholastic notions of a Summum Bonnum • The Social Contract Theory: Hobbes' notion of self-preservation as the primary 'law of nature' is implicitly utilitarian • David Hume's theory of moral sentiments Utilitarianism • Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832) – his primary interest was always legal reform – 1776 "A Fragment on Government", which contains his now famous utilitarian principle, "the greatest happiness of the greatest number" – of the "greatest happiness" simply as the greatest pleasure for all – "felicific calculus". • John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873) – Mills' two most influential works are On Liberty (1859) and Utilitarianism (1863) – defended the notion of free speech – moral authority only extends to actions that affect others – 'marketplace of ideas' Utilitarianism • Psychological hedonism: all human actions are motivated by seeking pleasure • Ethical hedonism: only pleasure is desirable in itself; all action should be motivated by pleasure • Bentham: – Consequences – Seven dimentions of pleasure: intensity, duration, certainty, how soon, additional pleasure/pain, mixed with pain, how many people it will affect – Hedons – Each sentient creature's pleasure/pain counts as one • So your pleasure/pain and your dog's pleasure/pain count equally Utilitarianism • Mill stressed differences in the quality and not just the quantity of pleasure as Bentham did • the connection between social utility and individual pleasure • happiness: Mill can only appeal to our experience that human beings try to achieve a supreme goal, without being able to specify much content to it • Mill's notion of happiness does recognize the priority of social utility as well as the pleasures we take in it, and not just egoistic hedonism (Bentham) Utilitarianism • Act vs. Rule Utilitarianism • An act utilitarian considers actions on a case by case basis; what you do is take every action individually and ask of this particular action: does this action maximize/promote happiness overall or not? • In some cases the action may promote/maximize happiness, but in others not. • A rule utilitarianism considers general rules, not particular actions. So does the rule 'do not take innocent life' maximize happiness? • So an act utilitarian: does that particular action maximize happiness overall? Utilitarianism • The rule utilitarian: does the rule 'do not take an innocent life' maximize happiness when it is followed? • What the rule utilitarian is interested in is whether or not if this rule when generally followed maximizes happiness, then it should always be followed, even when doing so does not promote happiness in a particular case. If the answer is yes, then people should follow the rule even in cases when following the rule doesn't maximize happiness in a particular instance. • Chapter 1 • Mill talks about the fact that our sense of right and wrong depends upon the notion of the ultimate good but there is no agreement as to: – What summum bonum is (definition); – how should it function in our decision making (methodology). • contrasts science with ethics • Mill says that there are two opposing schools in ethics: intuitive and inductive • the natural or inductive school: we have an instinct (inclination, observation and experience) that tells us what is right or wrong (Aquinas, Stoics); • but, Mill says, at the end this school contradicts itself because we have the moral sense tied to particulars, but we need moral laws to tell us generally what is right or wrong Utilitarianism • Intuitionist school is basically Kant who claims that we have a clear conceptual understanding of what is good in itself apart from the feelings or passions of the individuals. Kant's notion of the metaphysics of morals is purely formal. • Mill's criticism is that Kant has to appeal to experience in order to explain the concepts that he also claims to be a priori. • Mill has 2 criticisms: • the inductive school is self – contradictory; • the intuitive school can't really explain why someone would do things unless it appeals to the consequences of the action and not just logic of deducing it, so it is also self – contradictory. Utilitarianism • So what is the best principle? • The principle of SB is the greatest principle of happiness. • Without judging the consequences, we can't really determine what is right or wrong (criticizes Kant again). • So, it is related to pleasure and pain ultimately. • Chapter 2 • The statement of utilitarianism: "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." • So, the correct course of action is the one that promotes pleasure and by pleasure he means the absence of pain. Utilitarianism • The swine argument. • The notion that morality based on pleasure is low. (criticism) • Mill responds: • But there are higher pleasures that are specifically human and not bodily pleasures. • He classifies pleasures such as: the pleasure of intellect, feeling, imagination as higher than others. Mill claims that they are intrinsically better, they have higher quality. Utilitarianism • This is the biggest objection to the critics of utilitarianism who claim that util. equals men to pigs. • we know from experience what the higher, what the lower pleasures are; • we know that people who know both types of pleasures, consistently choose the higher ones; • even the ones who don't know the highest pleasure (philosophy), wouldn't trade few higher pleasures for lots of low ones. This is the response to the quantitative utilitarianism; • sense of dignity – it makes us choose the higher pleasures; • if we choose only lower pleasures, we have an opportunity to be completely satisfied, but if we choose higher, we will not; the lower ones are easy to satisfy and we can be fairly certain that we can satisfy them, we can obtain these pleasures easily; but the higher pleasures require work and we can't be sure that we will master what is required to obtain those pleasures (like learning to play piano or learning mathematics) • but it is better to be dissatisfied. • Utilitarianism • Mill starts talking about the social dimension of his ethics. The pursuit of noble pleasures produces benefit to the others not only to one person. • • Firmer statement: the pursuit of what is the highest, best is beneficial not only for one but for all. • Mill claims here again that those who have experience of both, prefer the higher pleasures that benefit the others more than the higher pleasures that benefit only them. Utilitarianism • Different objections discussed: • • I. some claim that happiness is not attainable or only attainable in a small degree in this life. • II. others claim that virtue requires giving up happiness • The utilitarian ideal is one with the Christian ideal -- the golden rule and "love your neighbor as yourself." • There are people who object to utilitarianism because moral sacrifice, obligations require us to give up some of our happiness. It often has to be done voluntarily by a martyr (self-sacrifice) Utilitarianism • So, making the sacrifices for moral obligation is compatible with utilitarianism for 2 reasons: • such sacrifices are almost always done for the sake of others happiness, so happiness is still a principle; • even when we make such sacrifices, we still can have the happiness in the sense of ataraxia because we loose the fear of loosing what we already decided to give up. So we preempt our passions. • Mill makes the distinction between the rule of action and the motive for it. • Mill: (1) it does not matter what the motive is as long as what is done is done for the promotion of the general good. (2)You are free to benefit yourself as much as you want to as long as you don't interfere with the rights of others. Utilitarianism • So, Mill is very liberal in his understanding of social relations in the sense of Adam Smith that individual seeking their own benefit, when this desire is moderated by reason, leads them to see that they have to benefit somebody else in order to benefit themselves. • Chapter 5 • "The Connection Between Justice and Utility," was originally written as a separate essay, but later incorporated into this work. Critics of utilitarianism argue that morality is not based on consequences of actions (as utilitarians suppose), but is instead based on the foundational and universal concept of justice. Mill sees this as the strongest attack on utilitarianism, and thus sees the concept of justice as a test case for utilitarianism. Utilitarianism • First, he argues that all moral elements in the notion of justice depend on social utility (punishment, and the notion that someone's rights were violated) • Mill's second argument is that if justice were as foundational as the other philosophers claim, it would not be as ambiguous as it is; punishment, fair distribution of wealth, and fair taxation: these disputes can only be resolved by appealing to utility. Utilitarianism: John Stuart Mill • Mill in some way followed James Mill and Bentham but modified their views, especially to show that utilitarianism is not narrowed down to selfishness and that for social progress one should rely not only on institutions but individuals and their personalities should be taken into account. • In ethics, Mill opposes the "intuitive view", which bases ethics on self – evident principles. • He prefers the "inductive view" which bases ethics on empirical evidence. • The Inductionists (theories of moral inclinations like Aquinas and Stoics): in these theories we are led by our natural inclinations to acquire the knowledge of the Natural Law. • Mill's criticism is that the Inductionists cannot explain how they can obtain these universal notions from starting with individual passions. Utilitarianism • Then he elaborates his theory of hedonism. If what is morally good is pleasure, then isn't it promoting selfishness and hedonism? Mill's response is, there are different types of pleasures, higher and lower and people with experience of both will always choose the higher. – there are different types of pleasures some of which are intrinsically better than others; – these higher pleasures are also associated with maintaining a public good such as serving in the army, education, arts and sciences, philanthropy. • Utilitarianism • Mill has 2 criticisms: • the inductive school is self – contradictory; • the intuitive school can't really explain why someone would do things unless it appeals to the consequences of the action and not just logic of deducing it, so it is also self – contradictory. • So Mill agrees with Kant in the sense that we need a general principle to test moral hypothesis with the proper methodology, but disagrees regarding the content of the principle. He agrees with the inductionists as to the content (paying attention to the consequences) but claims that they don't have a proper conception of a general principle of ethics. Utilitarianism • So what is the best principle? • The principle of SB is the greatest principle of happiness. • Without judging the consequences, we can't really determine what is right or wrong (criticizes Kant again). • So, it is related to pleasure and pain ultimately. • 2 points here: • so the ultimate principle is not to be proved. It is known to be good the same way we know that health is good; • the question in ethics is whether some particular course of action supports it or not. Utilitarianism • In "What Utilitarianism Is", Mill provides a precise formulation of the highest principle, and defends it from attacks. The highest normative principle is: • • Actions are right in proportion, as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. • The swine argument. • The notion that morality based on pleasure is low. (criticism) • Mill responds: • • But there are higher pleasures that are specifically human and not bodily pleasures. • He classifies pleasures such as: the pleasure of intellect, feeling, imagination as higher than others. Mill claims that they are intrinsically better, they have higher quality. • He criticizes other Utilitarians here. Utilitarianism • Other objections • some claim that happiness is not attainable or only attainable in a small degree in this life. • others claim that virtue requires giving up happiness • • Mill repeats that "the happiness which forms the utilitarian standard of what is right in conduct is not the agent's own happiness but that of all concerned." • • Mill: (1) it does not matter what the motive is as long as what is done is done for the promotion of the general good. (2)You are free to benefit yourself as much as you want to as long as you don't interfere with the rights of others.