Utilitarianism

Question 1

What is the definition of utilitarianism?

Answer 1

It is the attempt to try to produce the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people

Question 2

What is Bentham’s hedonic calculus?

Answer 2

A theory used to evaluate the quantity of happiness that would be caused by a certain action

Question 3

What are the 7 categories to consider in the hedonic calculus?

Answer 3

1. Purity
2. Remoteness
3. Intensity
4. Certainty
5. Extent
6. Duration
7. Fecundity

Question 4

What is telology and consequensialism?

Answer 4

Telology: the action is right or wrong depending on the outcome
Consequensialism: the consequences of an action judge whether it was right or wrong

Question 5

What is Act utilitarianism?

Answer 5

Bentham had created the idea of act utilitarianism where the individual decides what will cause the right consequences to maximise utility for the greatest number

Question 6

Name 2 strengths and weaknesses of AU

Answer 6

Strengths:
- Flexibility
- More accurate (Hedonic calculus)

Weakness:
- Most decisions are partial/biased due to free will of choice
- Unusable in many situations

Question 7

What is Rule utilitarianism?

Answer 7

Mill’s idea of utilitarianism was that the individual in the situation should follow moral rules in order to maximise utility instead of having free will to choose what they think maximises utility

Question 8

Name 2 Strength and weakness of RU

Answer 8

Strengths:
- Impartiality
- Maximises utility (people are following a moral rule therefore cannot be misguided)

Weakness:
- No defence for minority opinions
- unflexible

Question 9

What is Preferred utilitarianism?

Answer 9

• Hare suggested that right actions are those that satisfy the majority prefrences
• Singer suggests that babies shouldnt be considered persons until there one month old as preference is influenced by self awareness

Question 10

What is Ideal utilitarianism?

Answer 10

Moore invented IU which says that the individual should choose the option that is most moral (good). This does not mean that it should be based upon what will bring most pleasure, as goodness is separate from pleasure.

Question 11

What is negative utilitarianism?

Answer 11

Negative utilitarianism is this simple idea that we should instead focus on minimising the amount of pain that occurs instead of maximising happiness. This however runs into the same problem as AU and RU as we would need to define what would be painful for everyone.