Utilitarianism Principles and Theories

Utilitarianism

• Actions are deemed right if they lead to overall happiness and wrong if they cause the opposite
• Happiness signifies intended pleasure and absence of pain
• Good is equivalent to happiness
• Each individual's happiness is the summation of pleasure minus pain
• General happiness encompasses the happiness enjoyed by a group of people

John Stuart Mill - Utilitarianism

• Actions are right in proportion to their ability to promote happiness
• Happiness is defined as intended pleasure and the absence of pain
• People inherently desire happiness
• There is no other reason to prove that happiness is good
• Pleasures like virtue, health, and music are means to happiness, but can also be part of the end
• Each person's level of happiness is the sum of pleasure minus pain suffered
• Applying the Greatest Happiness Principle (GHP) to determine the morality of actions involves quantifying levels of pleasure and pain
• The moral actor must act as a "disinterested and benevolent spectator," giving equal weight to their own pleasure/pain and others' experiences
• Higher pleasures are more valuable than lower pleasures and cannot be exchanged for them
• Humans possess a greater capacity for higher pleasure than animals
• The capability to appreciate higher pleasure is linked to one's sense of dignity and environment

Problems with Mill's Utilitarianism

• Happiness is difficult to quantify, making accurate predictions of action consequences challenging
• Interpersonal comparisons of utility are impossible as knowing and understanding individual preferences is difficult
• Determining the strength of preferences requires extensive moral imagination and depends on individual circumstances

Jeremy Bentham - Utilitarianism

• Pleasure is an intrinsic good
• Hedonistic calculus is used to determine the right action based on the happiness value of the action

Factors to determine Happiness Value

• Intensity of Pleasure
• Duration of Pleasure
• Certainty that Pleasure will Materialize
• Remoteness of Pleasure
• Repeatability of the Pleasure
• Purity of Pleasure (accompanied by pain)
• Extent (number of people affected)

Why Act in accordance to GHP?

• Negative consequences or sanctions may result from deviating from GHP
• Moral actors may experience remorse or attacks on their conscience (internal sanctions)
• External sanctions like disfavor from others, God, or the community (fines, imprisonment) may occur
• Utilitarianism focuses on overall societal good, potentially disregarding the rights of the minority

Kantian Ethics (Immanuel Kant)

• Focuses on pure reason, not empirical or sensory facts
• Good Will is the "end in itself"
• Each person possesses autonomy and freedom to act
• Rational individuals have understanding, making their will driven by reason, not impulses
• Deontological ethics, emphasizing moral duties
• Moral duty forms the basis of actions, not inclinations or interests
• Distinction between "acting from a moral duty" and "acting in conformity with a moral duty"

Categorical Imperatives

• Rules are necessary without exception
• Act only according to a maxim that you can simultaneously will to become universal law
• Principle of Humanity: Treat humanity as an end and not as a means only

Principle of Humanity

• Based on human dignity, recognizing people as rational beings and ends in themselves
• Human beings are not objects used to achieve certain ends
• Applied to the context of downsizing, requires sufficient notice, allowing employees to find new employment and offering reasonable separation packages

Theories of Justice - Aristotelian Concept of Justice

• Just means lawful and fair
• Justice is complete virtue and benefits others, not just oneself

Three Forms of Justice

• Distributive Justice: Allocation of social goods
• Corrective Justice: Remedy for wrongdoing
• Retributive Justice: Punishment for wrongdoing

Two Principles of Justice (Rawls)

• Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged to provide the greatest benefit to the least advantaged
• First Principle of Justice: Principle of Equal Liberty
  • Includes civil and political rights, like the right to vote, freedom of speech, assembly, conscience, and the right to hold property
  • These liberties cannot be traded for greater socioeconomic advantage

Second Principle of Justice

• Second Principle of Justice
  • Difference Principle: The greatest benefit should accrue to the least advantaged member of society
  • Fair Equality of Opportunity Principle: Everyone has the opportunity to develop their capacities
  • Considered human goods

Differing Life Prospects

• Individuals born into different socioeconomic classes have varying life prospects
• This disparity can only be justified if the Difference Principle benefits the least advantaged
• Aim is to alleviate arbitrary handicaps caused by initial starting positions in society

Difference Principle

• Assumes a risk-averse or conservative decision-making approach
• Known as the maximin approach, selecting the option where the worst possible outcome is better than any other alternative's potential outcomes

Explore the core principles of utilitarianism as presented by John Stuart Mill. This quiz will take you through the concept of happiness, the Greatest Happiness Principle, and the ethical implications of actions based on their outcomes. Test your understanding of how pleasure and pain factor into moral decision-making.