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Utilitarianism Essay Describe the main differences between the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill. Utilitarianism is a prevalent approach to looking at ethical statements, and it is based on the idea of ‘utility’-a theory of usefulness, this then seems to imply whatever is useful is moral and refers to the amount of pleasure or happiness caused by the action. Utilitarianism is a teleological ethical system. Teleological ethical theories emphasise the importance of the ends, i.e. it is a consequentialist theory, and the ends justify the means. In Utilitarianism this is the happiness that results from the act. It is generally thought of as a moral theory that can be best summed up by the phrase: ‘The greatest happiness for the greatest number.’ Utilitarianism doesn’t ignore rules altogether, but believes actions to have instrumental value. So, for example, the act of abortion, according to Utilitarianism, in itself, is neither good nor bad, neither moral nor immoral. However abortion is either right or wrong depending on the consequences. The theory of Utilitarianism was devised by Jeremy Bentham. He believed that all human beings were motivated by pleasure and pain, so he was called a hedonist. Hedone is the Greek word for pleasure. He said ‘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, 1789). Bentham believed that all human beings pursued pleasure and sought to avoid pain. For Bentham, that which is good is that which equals the greatest sum of pleasure and the least sum of pain. Where the greatest good is the greatest pleasure or happiness and the least pain or sadness, and the greatest number are the majority of people. Hence the right moral decision would be the one that resulted in the most amount of pleasure. The way in which this was to be measured was through a hedonic calculus. This turns on the idea that human pleasures and pains are measurable, and that accordingly actions can be judged right or wrong on the basis of a kind of ‘moral arithmetic’, the sums involved correspond to the amount of pleasure or pain these actions contain.
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