UTILITARIANISM - GROUP 6

Would you kill one person to save five?

But what if that one person is someone you love? or yourself?

But what if letting five people die means the whole world would be put in danger?

Utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill

Start

Choosing yes is an act of utilitarianism. It values consequences over intentions. Choosing no, on the other hand, is the opposite of utilitarianism, which is deontology that values intention over consequences.

Group 6

Ivan Christopher Viñas

Januse Doma

Mark Joshua Quiroben

Utilitarianism and the Principle of Utility

Act Utilitarianism vs Rule Utilitarianism

Problems with Utilitarianism

What is Utilitarianism?

Utilitarianism is...

• A moral theory that focuses on the results, or consequences, of our actions, and treats intentions as irrelevant

Modern Utilitarianism was founded in the 18th century by:

Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill

• Actions should be measured in terms of the happiness or pleasure that they produce

Why do you pursue your dream?

however, it is NOT SELFISH

• It is not like Egoistic Theory that says that everyone ought morally to pursue their own good
• instead, it is OTHER-REGARDING

Principle of Utility

Principle of Utility states that:

We should act always as to produce the greatest good for the greatest number.

This means that.....

• If morality is concerned, you are special but no more special than anyone else
• This suggests that moral decisions should be made from the position of a benevolent, disinterested spectator

Imagine this situation:

Let's say there is Batman, and the enemy is Joker. Joker is a criminal who kills, terrorizes, and do all sorts of crimes to the the society.

Imagine this situation:

Since Batman is a hero, he refuses to kill people because it is wrong no matter what for him. However, if he don't kill Joker, he would always do crimes no matter what.

Imagine this situation:

In short, is Batman really 'good' because he refused to kill or is he 'evil' because he refused to do what was needed to be done?

Happiness/ pleasure

Results-driven

Greater good

Utilitarianism Examples

Lelouch Lamperouge from Code Geass

Next up..

Act Utilitarianism vs Rule Utilitarianism

20.00 h

Act vs Rule

ct Utilitarianism vs Rule Utilitarianism

Act Utilitarianism

Nature has placed mankind under two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as determine what we shall do.

Jeremy Bentham

Act Utilitarianism is...

• The utilitarian theory of ethics that states that the best action is the one that enhances the general welfare more than any other available or known alternative

• An action is judged in terms of the goodness of its consequences with no consideration of the rules of action.

Example of Act Utilitarianism

Suppose... You're a surgeon and there are 5 people in the hospital who needs an organ transplant.

Example of Act Utilitarianism

The shipment of the organs will take 2 weeks to arrive, but the surgery is urgent.

Example of Act Utilitarianism

There's a healthy homeless outside the hospital. He fits as a donor for every patient.

Example of Act Utilitarianism

Would you kill the homeless and take his organs to save your five patients?

Example of Act Utilitarianism

YES

Example of Act Utilitarianism

Greatest good for the greatest number

ct Utilitarianism vs Rule Utilitarianism

Rule Utilitarianism

The rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it is an instance.

Rule Utilitarianism

Rule Utilitarianism is...

• The utilitarian theory of ethics that states that an action is right as it conforms to a rule that leads to the greatest good

• The correctness of a rule is determined by the amount of good it brings about when followed

Example of Rule Utilitarianism

Suppose... Surgeon 5 people Organs Homeless Donor

Example of Rule Utilitarianism

Would you kill the homeless and take his organs to save your five patients?

Example of Rule Utilitarianism

NO

Example of Rule Utilitarianism

A society in which innocent people are dragged off the streets to be harvested for their organs will be far less useful than one in which you do not have to live in continuous fear of it happening to you.

Example of Rule Utilitarianism

Live by rules that, in general, are likely to lead to the greatest good for the greatest number

Which is better?

Act Utilitarianismvs Rule Utilitarianism

Which is better?

It will depend on the SITUATION & on YOU

Next up..

Problems with Utilitarianism

20.00 h

Problems with Utilitarianism

The Bad and a little dash of the Good

On a positive note, one of the things that can be appreciated is its neutrality by which all are considered regardless if they are your friends or family therefore pro towards dismantling the inequalities in society.

THE DOWNSIDES OF

Utilitarianism

1. Disregard to justice and immersed in only striving for happiness as the end-goal
2. Difficulty in measuring the definition of "Happiness"
3. Length of happiness to manifest is not definitive

Justice and Outcome-focused

Pretend you are a judge in a small town, where chaos has ensued due to the demand for the accused individual, who is innocent, to be punished. Do you choose to relieve and prioritize the happiness of the majority or set the record straight and acquit the individual?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDk23Q0S9E

What to do....

Say you were able to buy your favorite products at very cheap prices which then brought you happiness and satisfaction, this trickled to other people in the community and afterwards at the national scale. But you learned that it was at the expense of abused and overworked manpower with significantly below minimum wages who can barely take care of their own health just to support their families, can you say the results justify the means?

References

Asking Huge (n. d.). What is an example of Act utilitarianism. https://askingthelot.com/what-is-an-example-of-act-utilitarianism/ Austin, M.W. (2015, June 08). What’s Wrong With Utilitarianism? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/ethics-everyone/201506/whats-wrong-utilitarianism CrashCourse (2016, November 22). Utilitarianism: Crash Course Philosophy #36. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a739VjqdSI&t=93s Levin, N. (n.d.). Utilitarianism: Strengths and Weaknesses. https://viva.pressbooks.pub/phi220ethics/chapter/utilitarianism-pros-and-cons/ Mardellat, V. (n.d.). Rightness as Justifiability: Thomas Scanlon’s moral contractualism. Politika. https://doi.org/10.26095/3fqq-9378 McCartney, S. & Parent, R. (n.d.). Ethics in Law Enforcement. https://opentextbc.ca/ethicsinlawenforcement/chapter/utilitarian-ethics/ Psychology Answers (n. d.). Why is rule utilitarianism better than act? https://psichologyanswers.com/library/lecture/read/5181-why-is-rule-utilitarianism-better-than-act The Tablet (n. d.). Act utilitarianism vs Rule utilitarianism. https://www.thetablet.co.uk/student-zone/ethics/utilitarianism/act-or-rule

Thanks

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