RELIGIOUS STUDIES OCR – ETHICS AS
Utilitarianism
Bentham and classical utilitarianism
The moral doctrine that one should always seek the greatest balance of good over
evil
He believed that human nature could be explained by the belief that we are
psychological hedonists, so made that we always seek our own pleasure
It is a strictly teleological theory in that its goal is the moral good of persons
The principle of utility seeks to achieve the good to the greatest possible extent, it is
designed to enable us to achieve that goal
It is very situational, trying to work out in each dilemma what we should do to
achieve good
“The greatest happiness for the greatest number” - first formulated by Hutcheson
Bentham’s principle of utility
Seeking the greatest balance of good over evil
The principle of utility seeks to maximise pleasure and minimise pain
However, what is good? Bentham doesn’t define this, therefore unknown what a
moral action is
The hedonic calculus
He was a strict hedonist that happiness is pleasure
He is saying that pleasure is the good and nothing else is the good, terms ‘pleasure’
and ‘good’ are interchangeable
However, some people take pleasure in hurting others - this is ‘bad pleasure’ and not
‘bad good’ - contradictions take place here, ‘good’ and ‘pleasure’ aren’t in fact
interchangeable terms
But bentham was insistent that pleasure was good, he then attempted to develop a
hedonic calculus for determining which act should be performed using 7 criterias, for
example, intensity, duration, certainty, extent etc
His aim was to reduce life decisions to something which could be precisely calculated
However in reality there are too many variables for the hedonic calculus to work,
human behaviour cannot be predicted in this way it’s too complex
Mill’s alternative
Mill was unhappy about the narrow hedonism that good is pleasure and nothing else
is good, he argued there were higher and lower pleasures and said, “it is better to be
a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied”
Mill talks about happiness instead of pleasure. The search for good should be for
what is really good, not just bodily pressures or what someone takes to be
preferable outcomes
Utilitarianism
Bentham and classical utilitarianism
The moral doctrine that one should always seek the greatest balance of good over
evil
He believed that human nature could be explained by the belief that we are
psychological hedonists, so made that we always seek our own pleasure
It is a strictly teleological theory in that its goal is the moral good of persons
The principle of utility seeks to achieve the good to the greatest possible extent, it is
designed to enable us to achieve that goal
It is very situational, trying to work out in each dilemma what we should do to
achieve good
“The greatest happiness for the greatest number” - first formulated by Hutcheson
Bentham’s principle of utility
Seeking the greatest balance of good over evil
The principle of utility seeks to maximise pleasure and minimise pain
However, what is good? Bentham doesn’t define this, therefore unknown what a
moral action is
The hedonic calculus
He was a strict hedonist that happiness is pleasure
He is saying that pleasure is the good and nothing else is the good, terms ‘pleasure’
and ‘good’ are interchangeable
However, some people take pleasure in hurting others - this is ‘bad pleasure’ and not
‘bad good’ - contradictions take place here, ‘good’ and ‘pleasure’ aren’t in fact
interchangeable terms
But bentham was insistent that pleasure was good, he then attempted to develop a
hedonic calculus for determining which act should be performed using 7 criterias, for
example, intensity, duration, certainty, extent etc
His aim was to reduce life decisions to something which could be precisely calculated
However in reality there are too many variables for the hedonic calculus to work,
human behaviour cannot be predicted in this way it’s too complex
Mill’s alternative
Mill was unhappy about the narrow hedonism that good is pleasure and nothing else
is good, he argued there were higher and lower pleasures and said, “it is better to be
a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied”
Mill talks about happiness instead of pleasure. The search for good should be for
what is really good, not just bodily pressures or what someone takes to be
preferable outcomes
