Utilitarianism

Question 1

What is Bentham’s principle of utility?

Answer 1

• emphasis on pleasure
• focus on quantity
• happiness pursued as an end in its own right
• act utilitarianism

Question 2

What is J. S Mill’s greatest happiness principle?

Answer 2

• emphasis on happiness
• focus on quality
• an indirect by product of another activity
• ‘better to be a dissatisfied human than a pig satisfied’
• intellectual pleasures more valuable than physical pleasures
• should be guided by moral rules, which in last have shown to promote greatest happiness for greatest number
• rule utilitarian

Question 3

What are strengths of utilitarianism?

Answer 3

• pleasure an essential human value
• obvious link to morality - pursuit of happiness and avoidance of pain
• consequences important
• doesn’t support individual pursuit at the all expense of the majority
• promotes general happiness
• practically applicable to real life situations

Question 4

What are the weaknesses of utilitarianism?

Answer 4

• simulated pleasure is not valuable
• truth is more important
• there is a hierarchy of pleasure
• pleasure is merely sensation
• mood or pleasure?
• requires certainty of results of actions- inaccurate foresight
• difficult to measure pleasure
• pain is good for us- had a reason
• pleasure/ happiness is entirely subjective so wouldn’t create s universal moral code