Notes on Utilitarianism in accordance with the OCR Religious Studies specification. The notes provide information, scholars, ideas and quotes compiled from various resources from both within and outside of the curriculum.
Utilitarianism
‘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.’ Bentham
Utility
the principle of utility: ‘it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that
is the measure of right and wrong.’ Bentham
- Bentham used the idea of psychological hedonism, that humans are driven by
finding as much pleasure as possible, to support the utility principle
- Mill was utilitarian though he believed happiness couldn’t be a direct end in
itself as the action also matters as higher pleasures of ‘intellect, of the
feelings and imagination and of moral sentiments’ are more valuable.
Strengths
1. democratic ethical theory which uses majorities to find an outcome for as
many people as possible
2. secular so doesn’t rely on an adherence to religious texts/laws which can be
outdated and exclude atheists/non-believers
3. realistic as everybody can’t always be pleased so pragmatic decisions need to
be made
4. community focused rather than individualistic
5. emphasis on feeling happiness could support animal rights as the basis for
morality is sentience. ‘the principle of equality requires that its suffering
be counted equally with the like suffering of any other being.’ Singer
Weaknesses
1. teleological theories require an ability to accurately predict outcomes and
consequences but is this possible
2. neglects the minority, many things that benefit the greatest number may
cause pain for a small minority.
3. different pleasures aren’t acknowledged as having different values even
though pleasure is polymorphous. Mill developed the theory of higher and
lower pleasures as ‘it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a
pig satisfied.’ Humans shouldn’t simply be focused on the pursuit of
happiness but aim for intellectual pleasure even if that makes us
experience dissatisfaction.
4. Could be used to justify extreme or inhumane actions. Peter Singer is a
controversial contemporary utilitarian who said he would’ve euthanised
his elderly mother so the money spent on her medical treatment could
have been spent in Africa.
Higher and Lower Pleasures
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