I also think that moral decisions should be made using the Hedonic Calculus as it removes selfishness or any biasness towards people because it is not necessarily a person’s personal decision, the Hedonic Calculus is used to choose which action is best for them. For example, if somebody is in a moral dilemma where they can’t decide whether to go to a friend’s wedding or their nephew’s rugby presentation, using the Hedonic Calculus would show which one is going to give the person the most pleasure out of going and this therefore removes any biasness, as the decision is entirely based on pleasure. Jeremy Bentham said that pleasure and pain are the key motivators for human behaviour because our human nature is to feel both pleasure and pain. He argued that one should choose to act in such a way that brings about the maximum possible happiness for the most people. Therefore a decision can only be moral when it is bringing pleasure or happiness to the greatest amount of people and the Hedonic Calculus enables this. The seven steps of the Hedonic Calculus include duration, intensity, certainty or uncertainty, remoteness, fecundity, purity, and lastly extent. In the case of bullying for example, the Hedonic Calculus would measure how intense it is and how long it is possible for it to last etc which would then help a person to come to the decision of either helping the victim by talking to the bully or telling their parents or a teacher.
Bentham believed that any action which increases pleasure is right, and one that increases pain is wrong, so consequently, by using the Hedonic Calculus to make moral decisions we can guarantee that the decision made is always going to increase pleasure as it has been calculated correctly through the Hedonic Calculus.
I think that the Hedonic Calculus can help individuals to choose which is the right and which is the wrong thing to do as it ultimately calculates how pleasurable the consequence of an action is by measuring the above seven aspects. The Hedonic Calculus is a moral theory because it helps somebody to decide which action is right or wrong by calculating how much pleasure, or pain, could be received through an action but it could also be an ethical theory if the principle of utility is applied, which is an action that produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people, because then both pleasure and happiness are created, meaning the action was useful, therefore making it the ultimate good. Here, Jeremy Bentham has tried to fuse both ethical and moral theories together to show his belief that we are motivated only through pleasure and pain.
The Hedonic Calculus is quantitative; therefore meaning it is only concerned with the option that results in giving the greatest amount of pleasure and happiness. I think in many ways the most useful device in any moral dilemma is happiness or pleasure, sometimes both, as it leads people into making the most ethical and morally good decisions. Moreover, it is much easier for people to make a decision based on how much happiness or pleasure that will result out of a situation, especially if it is for the majority, as most often, people will feel that they have made the best possible choice at that time. However, there is a distinct difference between happiness and pleasure and all moral dilemmas and everyday situations are different. Not one can be treated or justified as being the same. For example, one person’s pleasure may be another person’s pain as we are all different and capable of feeling different emotions. Furthermore, this is why I believe using the Hedonic Calculus is an easy way out of making a decision in a moral dilemma yourself, and actually, the consequences of using the Hedonic Calculus in this way are very difficult to predict. Because of this, I do not think the Hedonic Calculus can be used effectively in everyday life to determine which option is best, when it is solely based on the amount of pleasure or pain a situation or choice will result in. Overall, I believe that the Hedonic Calculus is very impractical and time consuming as time is needed to calculate the figures which will then help you to make a decision. For example, you need to make the decision as to whether you should save a mother and her baby from being hit by a bus on a zebra crossing or a man in his twenties on a bike cycling the opposite way. They are both only seconds away. To work out which one to save using the Hedonic Calculus would take much longer than a few seconds therefore this is why I believe it is a very impractical way of calculating pain and pleasure.
( I know you said the first paragraph is not relevant, but I could not think of anything else to put in its place so I kept it in for the word count ☺ )
by
poppy90210 (student)
