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Utilitarianism

The Principle of Utility

A.K.A. The Greatest-Happiness Principle

(Sunnum Bonum):

"When choosing a course of action, always pick the one that will maximize happiness and minimize unhappiness for the greatest number of people."

(Rosenstand)

  • The action will be morally right if the consequences are good, and morally wrong if the consequences are bad.

Jeremy Bentham

John Stuart Mill

Biographical Info

Facts of His Life

Main Issue:

Examples:

It is difficult to predict consequences

  • Born in Spitalfields, London, in February 1748
  • Born in London in 1806
  • Son of James Mill; a philosopher, economist and senior official in the East India Company
  • Father educated Mill about Bentham
  • Married Harriet Taylor in 1851
  • Wrote "On Liberty", which was published in 1859
  • In his will, he wished for his body to be donated to medical research, with the provision that "after research on his body was complete, it was to be preserved and displayed at [University College London] board meetings."

Movie Examples:

Real-Life Examples:

Other Issues:

  • Abolition of slavery (Act Utilitarianism)
  • Suicide Prevention (Harm Principle)
  • Fury's Advisors: Nuclear missile sent to New York City to save the rest of the planet

(Rosenstand)

  • Telling the truth in court (Rule Utilitarianism)
  • Often credited with being a founder of University College London, which is just a myth
  • Adult vs. Child
  • Robin Hood: Steal from a few rich to help the many poor
  • To this day, his body is still on display at the college, and is marked "present, but not voting" at every board meeting.
  • Animal inclusion

Novel examples:

Harriet Taylor

Nervous Breakdown

  • Extreme Measures: Officer vs. gunman, homeless men as "heroes" for giving their lives to help "the injured". Guy Luthan's paralysis predicament.
  • He originally wished for his head to remain a part of the body, but it was replaced with a wax head due to a preservation mishap.
  • The Myth exists because "many of the founders ... held him to high esteem, and their project embodied many of his ideas on education and society."
  • His head originally rested between his feet, but has since been removed.
  • Ministry of Magic (in Order of the Phoenix): Ridicules Harry and Dumbledore in an attempt to cover the fact Voldemort has returned in order to to keep the wizarding world happy

Extreme Measures Trailer

(University College London)

Short-Story Examples:

  • Mill suffered a nervous breakdown at the age of 20 that lasted for three months
  • Continued his studies, but felt his goals and messages were without worth
  • Claimed that his emotions had become dull to the point of extinction, and blamed it on his relentless studying of both Aristotle and Bentham
  • Led to the creation of his own form of Utilitarianism, in hopes of correcting what he found was wrong with it during his mental collapse
  • "The Blacksmith and the Baker" (short story by Johann Herman Wessel): Killing the innocent baker instead of the guilty blacksmith - more benificial to the town
  • Dumbledore: Knew Harry must die in order for Voldemort to die to save the wizarding world.

Variation from Bentham

How the Moral Theory Came to Be

  • Husband's grandfather was a neighbor of James Mill
  • John Stuart Mill met her at the age of 23
  • Married Taylor after 21 years of intimate friendship and her husband's death.
  • Had an extremely strong influence on John Stuart Mill's writing, especially "On Liberty" and "Subjection of Women".
  • "The most favorable case which a man can generally have for studying the character of a woman, is that of his own wife: for the opportunities are greater, and the cases of complete sympathy not so completely rare." (Subjection of Women, Chapter I.)
  • Enforced Mill's support of women's rights, in which Mill ultimately claimed that there needed to be an equal educational system for men and women.
  • Grindelwald: "For the Greater Good"
  • "The Lottery" (short story by Shirley Jackson): Stoning of a randomly chosen person to bring a good harvest in the fall

Bentham outlined his principle of utility in this book

  • When Bentham was a child, his father wished for him to practice law.
  • The Capital: Torture 24 youth for the entertainment of the Capital
  • Post-Mental Breakdown
  • Utilitarian happiness principle may lead to happiness for many, but not necessarily happiness for the utilitarian.
  • "Sophisticated" utilitarianism. Mill believed that Bentham's idea of utilitarianism was too simple - merely associating good with pleasure and evil with pain.
  • Working for happiness - "It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied" (Rosenstand). One must learn to strive for happiness rather than remain passive, or a "fool" in Mill's eyes.
  • The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas: Child tortured in cellar in order to maintain otherwise utopian society.

"Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one hand the standard of right and wrong, on the other the chain of causes and effects, are fastened to their throne. They govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think."

  • However, Bentham spent his life writing about and criticizing the law, and suggesting ways for its improvement.

"Of an action that is conformable to the principle of utility one may always say either that it is one that ought to be done, or at least that it is not one that ought not to be done. One may say also, that it is right it should be done; at least that it is not wrong it should be done: that it is a right action; at least that it is not a wrong action."

  • To put an end to the unfair advantages of the British legal system, he proposed one simple moral rule everyone could relate to.

(Rosenstand)

Thus, utilitarianism was born!

Body

ACT UTILITARIANISM

The Harm Principle

On Liberty

The Hedonistic Calculus

  • Mill believed that each individual has the right to act as he wants, so long as these actions do not harm others.
  • Society cannot intervene in a person's actions if the action only affects that person (even if it is harmful).

Seven aspects to consider:

"It is often affirmed that utilitarianism renders men cold and unsympathetic...that it makes them regard only the dry and hard consideration of the consequences of actions, not taking into their moral estimate the qualities from which those actions emanate" -John Stuart Mill in Utilitarianism, p. 421

  • Bentham believed all humans are hedonists.
  • Choosing/performing the action that brings about the greater good for the greater number of people
  • Whether the action is right/wrong depends on the consequences involved

1. Intensity: How intense the pleasure/pain will be

Hedonism: a life in search of pleasure.

Exclusion of children

2. Duration: How long the consequence will last

3. Certainty: How sure you are that a consequence will follow the action

  • When making a decision, the probable consequences of each action must be calculated.

"This [utilitarian] doctrine is meant to apply only to human beings in the maturity of their faculties. We are not speaking of children, or of young persons...those who are still in a state to require being taken care of by others must be protected against their own actions as well as against external injury".

  • Attempted to establish a fine line between authority and liberty, and the importance of individuality.
  • Addresses the illegitimacy of power of society over the individual.
  • Free speech necessary for intellectual and social progress.
  • "The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, is self-protection" (p. 223)
  • Believed that anybody can do anything unless it harms other people.

4. Propinquity/Remoteness: How far away (in time and space) the consequence is

Extreme Measures

5. Fecundity: How likely it is to be followed by similar pleasure/pain

RULE UTILITARIANISM

  • Assign a number to each aspect, then sum up the pleasures and pains to find the good tendency and evil tendency.

6. Purity: How likely it will not be followed by the opposite sensation

  • Two main characters: Dr. Luthan (Hugh Grant) and Dr. Myrick (Gene Hackman)
  • Dr. Myrick has been tampering the spines and other body parts of homeless people in attempts to cure those with serious disabilities.
  • Dr. Luthan finds out and tries to put end to it, but ends up being caught and "paralyzed" himself.

7. Extent: How many people are affected

  • Choosing a course of action that is based on a specific rule that can bring about the greater good for the greater number of people
  • Takes the law and fairness into account

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • Sidgwick, H.(n.d). John Stuart Mill. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from http://www.utilitarian.net/jsmill/
  • Wong, J. J. (n.d.) John Stuart Mill Quotes. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from: Inspiration Boost: http://inspirationboost.com/john-stuart-mill-quotes
  • Wikipedia. (2012). John Stuart Mill. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill
  • SodaHead. (2011, March 18). Retrieved September 13, 2012 from http://www.sodahead.com/living/what-book-would-you-love-to-see-become-popular-by-the-youth/question-1592655/?link=ibaf&q=&imgurl=http://cdn3.staztic.com/screenshots/on-liberty-ebook-10-1.jpg

http://masjidannur.com/images/stories/education_cap.jpg

  • IMDB. (2012). Extreme Measures. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from Amazon Company: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116259/
  • Chapin, P. (1874). Review of the Autobiography of John Stuart Mill. New Englander and Yale Review, 33 (129): 605-623.
  • BLTC Research. (n.d.). Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill (1863): Chapter 2-What Utilitarianism is. Retrieved September 22, 2012 from BLTC: www.utilitarianism.com/mill2.htm
  • BLTC Research. (n.d.). John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). Retrieved September 22, 2012 from BLTC: www.utilitarianism.com/JSMill.htm
  • John Stuart Mill. (2002). In Standard Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved September 22, 2012 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mill/
  • Hinman, L. M. (2010, August 1). Utilitarianism. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from University of San Diego: http://www.ethicsmatters.net/presentations/socialethics/Theory/Utilitarianism.pdf
  • Bill. (n.d.). Harry Potter. Retrieved September 27, 2012 from Tumblr: http://the-boy--who-lived.tumblr.com/Dumbledore

University College London. (1999). Who was Jeremy Bentham. Retrieved September 10, 2012 from UCL Bentham Project: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-project/who

Anderson, K. (2004). Utilitarianism: The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number. Retrieved September 10, 2012 from Probe Ministries: www.probe.org/site/c.fdkeimnseoglb.4224805/k.b792/utilitarianism_The-Greatest_Good_for_the_greatest_number.htm

Stafforini, P. (2006, October 31). Jeremy Bentham. Retrieved September 10, 2012 from www.utilitarian.net/bentham

Rainbow, C. (2002). Descriptions of Ethical Theories and Principles: Ethical Theories. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from Davidson College, Department of Biology: http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/kabernd/indep/carainbow/theories.htm

Rosenstand, N. (2009). The Moral of the Story: An introduction to ethics. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

  • McMillan, P. (n.d.). Jeremy Bentham. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from Spartacus Educational: www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Prbentham.htm
  • Hortense Geninet. (n.d.). Utilitarian Philosophy: Jeremy Bentham. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from http://utilitarianphilosophy.com/jeremybentham.eng.html
  • Barnes and Noble. (2012). An introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation: by Jeremy Bentham. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/introduction-to-the-principles-of-morals-and-legislation-Jeremy-Bentham/1100059606
  • Ethics. (2011, January 16). Act and Rule Utilitarianism. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from Ethics: http://evans-frank.blogspot.com/2011/01/act-utilitarianism-and-rule.html
  • Mill, J. S. (1906). Utilitarianism. Chicago, Il: University of Chicago Press.
  • Squidoo. (2012). The Power of a Smile. Retrieved September 27, 2012 from Squidoo: http://www.squidoo.com/power-of-a-smile?utm_source=google&utm_medium=imgres&utm_campaign=framebuster
  • Itunes. (2012). Avengers. Retrieved September 27, 2012 from Itunes Movie Trailers: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/marvel/avengers/
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