UTILITARIAN PERSPECTIVE

Doug BollAmy Murtha

Cass StahmannTuesday, 5:30

Ethical Theories PresentationOctober 27, 2009

What It Is The greatest good for the greatest

number of people. Examples

Building a damFinish your degreeAssisted suicide

Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832

He believed that we should try to increase the overall happiness and pleasure in the world.

Good equals pleasure.

He called it “the Principle of Utility”

John Stuart Mill 1806-1873

Bentham’s godson

He inherited the utilitarian project from Bentham and from his father James Mill.

He gave the theory his own characteristic twists and developments.

Types of Utilitarianis

m

Act vs. Rule Act: likely consequences of

potential actions. Rule: potential rules of action.

Motive

How humans react psychologically.

Two-Level Use instinctive moral

thinking Varies from rule

Utilitarianism

Negative Least amount of harm or

“evil”

Average vs. Total Average: average

happiness Total: Utility of

population

Ethical Dilemma

Nation healthcare

reform

Criticisms

Responsibility Responsibility for choices. Sometimes we can’t foresee

the impact of others.Example

Terrorist situation

Too Demanding Implies we should always

maximize happiness. May be too strict of a

requirement.Example

Good intentions

Who is Included? Who all is included in one

decision Examples

Those in our own groupIn our own countryAll human beings.All sentient beings.

Not Enough Time Calculating

takes time. In the real

world we don’t have time to calculate the effects of our actions on general happiness.

Questions for Review

What are the main arguments in defense of or

against Utilitarianism?

What is the difference between maximizing total happiness vs. average happiness?

Who were the “Fathers” of

Utilitarianism?

What are two of the different types of

Utilitarianism?

Bibliography

A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox, second edition. By Anthony Weston

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ball0888/oxfordopen/mill.html http://www.codepoet.org/~markw/gurps/adv/bedlam/

bedlam_in_london.html http://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gaskilld/ethics/

Utilitarianism%20notes.htm http://philosophy.wisc.edu/hausman/341/dq/dq-

utilitarianism.htm http://ethics.sandiego.edu/theories/Utilitarianism/

index.asp http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/utilitarianism/types-

of-utilitarianism.html