Jeremy Bentham's quantitative hedonistic utilitarianism
● Utility is the usefulness of an action in leading to good consequences,
such as pleasure/happiness
● Therefore, utilitarianism is the normative ethical theory that posits that
utility determines the moral worth of an action.
● Bentham's act utilitarianism is a teleological normative ethical theory,
meaning it argues that it is the consequence of an action that makes it
right or wrong – not the intentions of an action.
● It presupposes psychological hedonism and thus assumes that we are
intrinsically motivated by “two sovereign masters” - pleasure and pain. We
seek to maximise our pleasure and minimise the pain we experience. All
other motivations are merely instrumentally valuable.
● Bentham presupposes psychological hedonism to argue for moral
hedonism and thus claims that the maximisation of pleasure and the
minimisation of pain have moral value
● Thus, for Bentham, utility equates to the balance of pleasure over pain
● Putting these tenets together, Bentham posits the principle of utility – the
morally right action is that which tends to maximise pleasure and
minimise pain for the greatest number.
● The principle of utility is applied in an egalitarian manner such that every
man counts for one, and nobody counts for more than one
● Bentham’s utilitarianism is relativist. He does not believe that there ought
to be absolute moral laws to follow, and the moral worth of an action
should be determined on a case-by-case basis
● He measures the moral worth on a case-by-case basis with the hedonic
calculus. This is a quantitative system which enables the moral agent to
weigh up the consequential pleasure and pain on a scale depending on
seven categories (duration, remoteness, purity, richness, intensity,
certainty, extent).
● Intensity: How strong or powerful the resulting pleasure or pain is.
● Duration: How long will the pleasure or pain last?
● Certainty: How likely or probable it is that the pleasure or pain will actually
occur.
, ● Remoteness: How near or far away the pleasure or pain is in time or
space.
● Richness: The chance the action has of being followed by more sensations
of the same kind (e.g., more pleasure leading to more pleasure).
● Purity: The chance the action has of not being followed by sensations of
the opposite kind (e.g., pleasure leading to pain).
● Extent: How many people are affected by pleasure or pain.
● Bentham opted for a quantitative approach over a qualitative approach
as he believed that all pleasure is equal - “the game of push-pin is of equal
value with the arts and sciences of music and poetry”
John Stuart Mill’s qualitative hedonistic utilitarianism
● Utility is the usefulness of an action in leading to good consequences,
such as pleasure/happiness
● Therefore, utilitarianism is the normative ethical theory that posits that
utility determines the moral worth of an action
● Mill rejects a purely teleological account because pleasure is “much too
complex”.
● However, Mill “entirely” agrees with Bentham’s principle of utility and
argues that a rule/secondary principle is morally good iff its general
practice satisfies the principle of utility. This is called the “first principle”
● Subsequently, Mill’s utilitarianism is teleological in so far as it is designed
teleologically.
● Mill’s rule utilitarianism argues that an action is right iff it follows a morally
good rule/secondary principle
● Thus, Mill’s utilitarianism is applied deontologically
● Mill argues that these rules can only be broken if they come into conflict.
You ought to break the one that would produce less utility in that
situation.
● Some rules create more utility in general (e.g rules of justice), and thus
these are more obligatory than other rules
, ● A secondary principle that Mill values highly is the harm principle. This
posits that one should not interfere with self-regarding acts. The only acts
we can interfere with are harm-inducing, other-regarding acts
● Hard-rule utilitarianism is absolutist and accordingly argues that rules
should never be broken.
● Whereas, weak-rule utilitarianism takes a more relativist approach and
does allow rules to be broken in exceptional circumstances, iff the
resulting utility would be considerably higher than if you did not break the
rule
John Stuart Mill’s higher and lower pleasures
● Mill criticises Bentham’s notion that all pleasures are created equal and
subsequently rejects his quantitative approach for a qualitative one
● He draws a distinction between higher pleasures (gained from mental
activity such as poetry, music and philosophy) and lower pleasures
(gained from bodily activity such as sex and drugs)
● Mill justifies this distinction by pointing out that (1) quantitative utilitarians
have previously illustrated that higher pleasures have greater value as
they produce a greater quantity of happiness.
● Lower pleasures are fleeting and costly in the long-term because they are
addictive and only offer instant gratification (a ‘nearer good’), over greater
goods like health.
● Higher pleasures have no such costs.
● But even more crucially, Mill argues (2), the superiority of higher
pleasures can be proven not merely quantitatively, but on a ‘higher
ground’ - qualitatively.
● “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to
be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
● Mill says we should look at ‘competent judges’ to determine what
constitutes the quality of and categorisation of pleasure as either higher
or lower
● Competent judges are those with experience of both higher and lower
pleasures.
● Utility is the usefulness of an action in leading to good consequences,
such as pleasure/happiness
● Therefore, utilitarianism is the normative ethical theory that posits that
utility determines the moral worth of an action.
● Bentham's act utilitarianism is a teleological normative ethical theory,
meaning it argues that it is the consequence of an action that makes it
right or wrong – not the intentions of an action.
● It presupposes psychological hedonism and thus assumes that we are
intrinsically motivated by “two sovereign masters” - pleasure and pain. We
seek to maximise our pleasure and minimise the pain we experience. All
other motivations are merely instrumentally valuable.
● Bentham presupposes psychological hedonism to argue for moral
hedonism and thus claims that the maximisation of pleasure and the
minimisation of pain have moral value
● Thus, for Bentham, utility equates to the balance of pleasure over pain
● Putting these tenets together, Bentham posits the principle of utility – the
morally right action is that which tends to maximise pleasure and
minimise pain for the greatest number.
● The principle of utility is applied in an egalitarian manner such that every
man counts for one, and nobody counts for more than one
● Bentham’s utilitarianism is relativist. He does not believe that there ought
to be absolute moral laws to follow, and the moral worth of an action
should be determined on a case-by-case basis
● He measures the moral worth on a case-by-case basis with the hedonic
calculus. This is a quantitative system which enables the moral agent to
weigh up the consequential pleasure and pain on a scale depending on
seven categories (duration, remoteness, purity, richness, intensity,
certainty, extent).
● Intensity: How strong or powerful the resulting pleasure or pain is.
● Duration: How long will the pleasure or pain last?
● Certainty: How likely or probable it is that the pleasure or pain will actually
occur.
, ● Remoteness: How near or far away the pleasure or pain is in time or
space.
● Richness: The chance the action has of being followed by more sensations
of the same kind (e.g., more pleasure leading to more pleasure).
● Purity: The chance the action has of not being followed by sensations of
the opposite kind (e.g., pleasure leading to pain).
● Extent: How many people are affected by pleasure or pain.
● Bentham opted for a quantitative approach over a qualitative approach
as he believed that all pleasure is equal - “the game of push-pin is of equal
value with the arts and sciences of music and poetry”
John Stuart Mill’s qualitative hedonistic utilitarianism
● Utility is the usefulness of an action in leading to good consequences,
such as pleasure/happiness
● Therefore, utilitarianism is the normative ethical theory that posits that
utility determines the moral worth of an action
● Mill rejects a purely teleological account because pleasure is “much too
complex”.
● However, Mill “entirely” agrees with Bentham’s principle of utility and
argues that a rule/secondary principle is morally good iff its general
practice satisfies the principle of utility. This is called the “first principle”
● Subsequently, Mill’s utilitarianism is teleological in so far as it is designed
teleologically.
● Mill’s rule utilitarianism argues that an action is right iff it follows a morally
good rule/secondary principle
● Thus, Mill’s utilitarianism is applied deontologically
● Mill argues that these rules can only be broken if they come into conflict.
You ought to break the one that would produce less utility in that
situation.
● Some rules create more utility in general (e.g rules of justice), and thus
these are more obligatory than other rules
, ● A secondary principle that Mill values highly is the harm principle. This
posits that one should not interfere with self-regarding acts. The only acts
we can interfere with are harm-inducing, other-regarding acts
● Hard-rule utilitarianism is absolutist and accordingly argues that rules
should never be broken.
● Whereas, weak-rule utilitarianism takes a more relativist approach and
does allow rules to be broken in exceptional circumstances, iff the
resulting utility would be considerably higher than if you did not break the
rule
John Stuart Mill’s higher and lower pleasures
● Mill criticises Bentham’s notion that all pleasures are created equal and
subsequently rejects his quantitative approach for a qualitative one
● He draws a distinction between higher pleasures (gained from mental
activity such as poetry, music and philosophy) and lower pleasures
(gained from bodily activity such as sex and drugs)
● Mill justifies this distinction by pointing out that (1) quantitative utilitarians
have previously illustrated that higher pleasures have greater value as
they produce a greater quantity of happiness.
● Lower pleasures are fleeting and costly in the long-term because they are
addictive and only offer instant gratification (a ‘nearer good’), over greater
goods like health.
● Higher pleasures have no such costs.
● But even more crucially, Mill argues (2), the superiority of higher
pleasures can be proven not merely quantitatively, but on a ‘higher
ground’ - qualitatively.
● “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to
be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
● Mill says we should look at ‘competent judges’ to determine what
constitutes the quality of and categorisation of pleasure as either higher
or lower
● Competent judges are those with experience of both higher and lower
pleasures.
