Theory of Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham

THEORY OF UTILITARIANISM BY
JEREMY BENTHAM
 THEORY OF UTILITARIANISM
 PRINCIPLES OF THE THEORY
 ACT UTILITARIANISM
 RULE UTILITARIANISM
 TWO LEVEL UTILITARIANISM
 MOTIVE UTILITARIANISM
 NEGATIVE UTILITARIANISM, TOTAL UTILITARIANISM, & AVERAGE

UTILITARIANISM
 CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE THEORY OF UTILITARIANISM

THEORY OF UTILITARIANISM
 MORAL STANDARD SHOULD BE PROMOTION OF THE

BEST LONG-TERM INTEREST OF EVERYONE CONCERNED
 UTILITARIAN ACT IS THE ONE THAT PRODUCES THE

GREATEST RATIO OF GOOD TO EVIL FOR ALL
CONCERNED
 CERTAIN ACTIONS ALMOST ALWAYS HAVE A GREAT

UTILITARIAN VALUE
 THUS, GENERAL RULES ARE FORMULATED TO HELP US

THAT WE FOLLOW THESE RULES OF ACTION
…..CONTINUED…..
 A FEW DOCTORS DECIDE THAT A NUMBER OF
EXPERIMENTS ON A FEW PEOPLE, EVEN IF MOST OF
THEM DIED, WOULD BE WORTH IF THEY COULD FIND A
CURE FOR A DISEASE THAT WOULD RELIEVE THE
SUFFERING OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. UTILITARIANISM
WOULD GIVE APPROVAL FOR SUCH BECAUSE IT
PRODUCES THE GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST
NUMBER OF PEOPLE.
PRINCIPLES
 ACTIONS ARE RIGHT TO THE DEGREE
 THEY TEND TO PROMOTE
 THE GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER
 A TENDENCY TO AUGMENT OR DIMINISH HAPPINESS OR

PLEASURE
 GREATEST NUMBER INCLUDES ALL WHO WERE AFFECTED

BY THE ACTION IN QUESTION
 ALWAYS CHOOSE THAT WHICH HAS THE GREATEST UTILITY

ACT UTILITARIANISM
 EACH INDIVIDUAL ACTION IS TO BE EVALUATED
 EVALUATED IN TERMS OF THE UTILITY PRINCIPLE
 WHEN FACED WITH A CHOICE, WE MUST CONSIDER THE LIKELY

CONSEQUENCES OF POTENTIAL ACTIONS
 WE MUST CHOOSE TO DO WHAT WE BELIEVE WILL GENERATE

THE MOST PLEASURE
 TO DETERMINE WHETHER A RULE SHOULD BE FOLLOWED:

 ONE SHOULD LOOK AT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF IT WERE
CONSTANTLY FOLLOWED
…..CONTINUED…..
 IMPORTANCE OF CONSISTENCY
 IF ADHERENCE TO THIS RULE PRODUCES MORE

HAPPINESS, THEN, IT IS A RULE THAT MUST BE
FOLLOWED AT ALL TIMES
RULE UTILITARIANISM
 BEHAVIOUR IS EVALUATED BY RULES
 THAT, UNIVERSALLY FOLLOWED PRINCIPLES SHOULD LEAD

TO THE GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER
 THE GREATEST GOOD IS BEST SERVED BY THE MASSES
 ITS WHEN THEY FOLLOW RULES OUT OF DUTY, AND

LEAVE THE DIFFICULT & SUBTLE CALCULATIONS TO
THOSE IN AUTHORITY
TWO LEVEL UTILITARIANISM
 ONE SHOULD NORMALLY USE ‘INTUITIVE’ MORAL

THINKING
 IT SHOULD BE IN FORM OF RULE UTILITARIANISM,

BECAUSE, IT USUALLY MAXIMIZES HAPPINESS
 THERE ARE SOME TIMES WHEN WE MUST ASCEND TO A

HIGHER LEVEL OF REFLECTION IN ORDER TO DECIDE
WHAT TO DO, AND MUST THINK AS AN ACT
UTILITARIANISM WOULD
MOTIVE UTILITARIANISM
 ITS HYBRID BETWEEN ACT UTILITARIANISM & RULE

UTILITARIANISM
 IT ATTEMPTS TO DEAL REALISTICALLY WITH HOW

HUMAN BEINGS ACTUALLY FUNCTION
PSYCHOLOGICALLY
 WE ARE INDEED PASSIONATE, EMOTIONAL CREATURES
 WE DO MUCH BETTER WITH POSITIVE GOALS THAN WITH

NEGATIVE PROHIBITIONS
 WE LONG TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

NEGATIVE UTILITARIANISM, TOTAL
UTILITARIANISM, & AVERAGE UTILITARIANISM
 NEGATIVE UTILITARIANISM
 PROMOTES THE LEAST AMOUNT OF EVIL OR HARM
 LEAST AMOUNT TO PREVENT THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF

SUFFERING FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER
 TOTAL UTILITARIANISM
 ADVOCATES MEASURING THE UTILITY OF A POPULATION BASED
ON THE TOTAL UTILITY OF ITS MEMBERS
 OUR INITIAL MORAL TASK IT TO INCULCATE FEELINGS OF

UTILITARIANISM WITHIN OURSELVES
…..CONTINUED….
 AVERAGE UTILITARIANISM
 ADVOCATES MEASURING THE UTILITY OF A POPULATION

BASED ON THE AVERAGE UTILITY OF THAT POPULATION
CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE THEORY
OF UTILITARIANISM
 ITS NOT CLEAR WHAT THE OUTCOME OF AN ACTION
WILL BE, NOR IS IT ALWAYS POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE
WHO WILL BE AFFECTED BY IT
 JUDGING AN ACTION BY THE OUTCOME IS THEREFOR

HARD TO DO BEFOREHAND
 VERY DIFFICULT TO QUANTIFY PLEASURES FOR

COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS
 SINCE THE GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST

NUMBER IS DESCRIBED IN AGGREGATE TERMS, THAT
GOOD MAY BE ACHIEVED UNDER CONDITIONS THAT ARE
HARMFUL TO SOME
….CONTINUED….
 THE THEORY FAILS TO RECOGNISE ANY INDIVIDUAL
RIGHTS
 CASE STUDY

Theory of Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham

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THEORY OF UTILITARIANISM BY

 PRINCIPLES OF THE THEORY

 TWO LEVEL UTILITARIANISM

 NEGATIVE UTILITARIANISM, TOTAL UTILITARIANISM, & AVERAGE

 CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE THEORY OF UTILITARIANISM

 MORAL STANDARD SHOULD BE PROMOTION OF THE

 UTILITARIAN ACT IS THE ONE THAT PRODUCES THE

 CERTAIN ACTIONS ALMOST ALWAYS HAVE A GREAT

 THUS, GENERAL RULES ARE FORMULATED TO HELP US

 ACTIONS ARE RIGHT TO THE DEGREE

 THEY TEND TO PROMOTE

 THE GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER

 A TENDENCY TO AUGMENT OR DIMINISH HAPPINESS OR

 GREATEST NUMBER INCLUDES ALL WHO WERE AFFECTED

 ALWAYS CHOOSE THAT WHICH HAS THE GREATEST UTILITY

 EVALUATED IN TERMS OF THE UTILITY PRINCIPLE

 WHEN FACED WITH A CHOICE, WE MUST CONSIDER THE LIKELY

 WE MUST CHOOSE TO DO WHAT WE BELIEVE WILL GENERATE

 TO DETERMINE WHETHER A RULE SHOULD BE FOLLOWED:

 IF ADHERENCE TO THIS RULE PRODUCES MORE

 BEHAVIOUR IS EVALUATED BY RULES

 THAT, UNIVERSALLY FOLLOWED PRINCIPLES SHOULD LEAD

 THE GREATEST GOOD IS BEST SERVED BY THE MASSES

 ITS WHEN THEY FOLLOW RULES OUT OF DUTY, AND

 ONE SHOULD NORMALLY USE ‘INTUITIVE’ MORAL

 IT SHOULD BE IN FORM OF RULE UTILITARIANISM,

 THERE ARE SOME TIMES WHEN WE MUST ASCEND TO A

 ITS HYBRID BETWEEN ACT UTILITARIANISM & RULE

 IT ATTEMPTS TO DEAL REALISTICALLY WITH HOW

 WE ARE INDEED PASSIONATE, EMOTIONAL CREATURES

 WE DO MUCH BETTER WITH POSITIVE GOALS THAN WITH

 WE LONG TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

 LEAST AMOUNT TO PREVENT THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF

 OUR INITIAL MORAL TASK IT TO INCULCATE FEELINGS OF

 ADVOCATES MEASURING THE UTILITY OF A POPULATION

 JUDGING AN ACTION BY THE OUTCOME IS THEREFOR

 VERY DIFFICULT TO QUANTIFY PLEASURES FOR

 SINCE THE GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST

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