Ethical Theories e.g (Utilitarianism and situation Ethics) are based upon Religious and Philosophical systems for making moral decisions.

TO KNOW HOW UTILITARIAN’S MAKES

ETHICAL DECISIONS

KEY WORDS:

UTILITARIANISM

CONSEQUENTIALISM

TELEOLOGICAL

DEONTOLOGICAL

HEDONIST

There are lots of different ways to

approach an ethical dilemma.

You might look at it from a deontological

point of view or a teleological viewpoint

(both branches of Normative ethics).

You might take a descriptive approach

(compare different religions / traditions)

or a meta - ethical approach (and look at

key words and explore what they might

mean)!

• A naval warship is in battle. It receives a severe hit to the

engineering section and a fire breaks out. If the fire continues, the

ships munitions could explode, killing the whole crew. The captain

can use a fast acting extinguisher that would result in blasts of

steam putting out the fire, but this will kill the men trapped in

engineering .

• What should he do?

What’s my

PURPOSE or

MOTIVE ?

Is there a RULE,

MAXIM or

Religious

Teaching that I

need to follow ?

What might be

the

Consequences

of my actions?

Utilitarianism says that the Result or the Consequence of an Act is the real measure of whether it is good or bad.

This theory looks at the consequences , the results of an action, to decide whether it’s right or wrong.

For a Teleological thinker, the end justifies the means, and thus a thinker from this school of thought would judge the rightness of an action by the end it produces.

Utilitarianism is therefore, a teleological (telos = end) or consequentialist ethical theory.

In this thinking, a choice that results in

good end is morally better than a choice

that results in bad end.

Does this mean that stealing food to

feed your starving family is justified

because it results in good end?

Because Utilitarianism focuses on the results

of an action, this makes it a consequentialist

theory as it focuses on the consequences of

an action.

Utilitarianism is thus the opposite of a

deontological ethical theories which

concentrate on moral rules that cannot be

broken….In this thinking therefore, stealing

food to feed your starving family would be

considered wrong as stealing is morally

wrong.

Jeremy

Bentham

Born into a wealthy family

Was a child prodigy and was found as a toddler

sitting at his fathers desk reading a large volume

of the history of England.

Received his degree at 15 years old.

Concerned with social conditions of his time

and was a political philosopher and a political radical.

Founded a movement called the Philosophical Radicals.

Worked on legal reform.

Wrote ‘The Principles of morals and legislation’ in 1789 in which he proposed his ethical theory of utilitarianism.

His drive and belief in equality was the inspiration for the opening of UCL in London

His preserved body is sill there in a wooden cabinet.

Although he never practiced law, he spent most of his life critiquing the existing law strongly advocating legal reform

Concerned with social reform-hospitals and prisons

Advocating that whatever is done in society should be judged on right or wrong according to how it benefits it’s citizens.

He maintained that putting this principle into practice would provide justification for social, political, and legal institutions.

He was a Hedonist.

The fact that ‘good’ is determined in terms of happiness and pleasure makes utilitarianism a Hedonistic theory.

Hedonism is a term used to describe an attitude that makes happiness the goal of life.

Epicurus founded the school of Philosophy and held that judgements we make are based on our feeling of pleasure and pain.

However the notion of pleasure was not merely a simple sensuality, Epicureans held that intellectual enjoyment was a pleasure worth seeking. They held that mental pleasure was better than physical and that fulfilment of the mind was superior to pleasures of the body.

KEY WORDS:

UTILITARIANISM

CONSEQUENTIALISM

TELEOLOGICAL

DEONTOLOGICAL

HEDONIST

Who was Jeremy Bentham?

What did he write in 1789?

On the piece of paper, write one thing you have learned today…

It could be a concept you are now familiar with.

Or, a new key term in your vocabulary. A theory that you are more confident in understanding. Developed an academic/exam skill.

If nothing, be honest. But say why you feel

nothing.

TO UNDERSTAND BENTHAM’S THEORY OF

MOTIVATION & PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY.

KEY WORDS:

MOTIVATION

HEDONISM

MORAL FACT

UTILITY

GREATEST GOOD

DEMOCRATIC

We can divide his theory into three parts:

1. Motivation - His view on what drove

human beings and what goodness and

badness was about

2. The principle of utility - (usefulness)

which is his moral rule.

3. The hedonic calculus - which is his

system for measuring how good or bad a

consequence is.

Human beings are motivated by pleasure and pain.

He is thus a Hedonist. He believes that pleasure is the ultimate motivation.

Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters

pain and pleasure

“It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as to determine what we shall do” Bentham

All humans pursue pleasure and seek to avoid pain.

This is a moral fact because pleasure and pain identify what is a good or a bad action

For humans the sole good is pleasure and the sole evil is pain.

For this reason Bentham’s Utilitarianism is called ‘Hedonic Utilitarianism’.

Once Bentham identified pleasure and pain as the important qualities for identifying what is moral he developed the ‘Utility Principle’

The rightness or wrongness of an action is judged by its utility or usefulness to produce pleasure.

because pleasure produces a feeling of happiness it is used interchangeably in the utility principle.

The action that produces the most happiness is the most moral.

Often expressed as,

“the greatest good of the greatest number”.

“The greatest happiness of the

greatest number.”

Good = happiness or pleasure. So, an act is right or wrong according to the good or bad results that results from the act and the good act is the most pleasurable.

Quantitative= focuses on the greatest number.

This theory is teleological because it determines the goodness of an action by the end it produces.

Remember teleos in the Greek means ends.

By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: or, what is the same thing in other words, to promote or to oppose that happiness. I say of every action whatsoever, and therefore, not, only of every action of a private individual, but of every measure of government. Bentham

We can shorten this to: “an action is

right if it produces the greatest good

for the greatest number’

good is the maximization of pleasure.

The more pleasure that an action

produces the better it is.

the larger the number of people that

an action produces pleasure for, the

better than action is.

This theory is democratic because pleasure

can’t be for one person alone.

When facing a moral dilemma, Bentham

argued that one should choose to act in

such a way that brings about the maximum

possible happiness for the most people.

However, the possible consequences of

different possible actions must be

measured clearly to establish which option

generates the most pleasure and the least

pain !!!!!

a Doctor witnesses a car accident.

In the car are three people.

1. A pregnant woman

2. The young woman’s husband

3. The woman’s father.

All have an equal chance of survival but he can only save two person in time. One person is bound to die.

Who does he save and why?

The doctor if he was a utilitarian would save…

The pregnant woman first – this is because she and the baby would have the happiness/pleasure of two people.

The husband would be next because the happiness of a new family would outweigh the happiness of one man.

The old man would be left because he has had his portion of happiness.