How can Bentham's Utilitarianism be used to decide the right course of action?

by happyg (student)

AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

Georgina Macaulay

How can Bentham’s Utilitarianism be used to decide the right course of action?

Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher born in 1748. He influenced the idea of utilitarianism, which is the teleological theory of ethics looking at the consequences and results of an action to decide whether an action is right or wrong and is a consequentialist theory. Utilitarian’s were social reformers and utilitarianism got its name from the question ‘What is the use of it. Bentham came up with this idea when he came across ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’. Bentham defined happiness as ‘the sum of pleasures and pains’ and his philosophy is known as utilitarianism due to its emphasis on the utility of acts consequences. Good is defined in terms of happiness; an act is right or wrong according to the good or bad that results from an act. ‘Happyism’ would’ve been a better name as this utility is seen as a contribution to happiness. He wanted to develop an ethical theory which showed whether something was good or bad according to its benefit for the largest majority of people.

Bentham’s version of utilitarianism is often called act utilitarianism. Through research, Bentham concluded that people would naturally seek to avoid pain; as a result he argued that good is what equals the greatest pleasure and the least amount of pain for the greatest amount of people. So a right moral decision would be a decision that produced the greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest amount of people. Actions are judged as a ‘means to end’ and what is right is what is calculated to bring the greatest balance of good and evil- where good is defined as happiness or ...

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Bentham’s version of utilitarianism is often called act utilitarianism. Through research, Bentham concluded that people would naturally seek to avoid pain; as a result he argued that good is what equals the greatest pleasure and the least amount of pain for the greatest amount of people. So a right moral decision would be a decision that produced the greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest amount of people. Actions are judged as a ‘means to end’ and what is right is what is calculated to bring the greatest balance of good and evil- where good is defined as happiness or pleasure. Bentham’s view is described as Act Utilitarianism and it is a universal hedonism.

Bentham devised the principle of utility and he said “the principle of utility aims to promote happiness which is the supreme ethical value. Nature has placed us under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. An act is right if it delivers more pleasure than pain and wrong if it brings about more pain than pleasure. By adding up the amounts of pleasure and pain for each possible act we should be able to choose the good thing to do.

Bentham argued that we should be guided by the principle of utility; not by rules. However, it may be necessary to use rules based on past experience, especially if there is no time to work out the consequences.

An example of when Act Utilitarianism could be used to decide the best course of action would be when a group of 4 friends are choosing where to go on holiday. If, for example, three out of the four people wanted to go to Spain but the fourth person wanted to go to France, the logical choice would be to go to Spain. This is because the collective pleasure to be had by the three who would like to go to Spain outweighs the possible unhappiness, or pain, of the fourth person. This is applying the 'greatest happiness for the greatest number' principle. If they went to France, then three out of four people would feel the unhappiness or pain that would only be felt by one person if the group went to Spain. The application of the 'greatest happiness for the greatest number' principle works here, because it’s clear that it would be better overall to follow Bentham's course of action by going to Spain instead of the alternative, which is going to France which causes greater unhappiness.

Bentham created the hedonic calculus to measure pain and pleasure. This hedonic calculus was based on ancient hedonism. The hedonic calculus has seven elements including the intensity of pleasure, the duration, the certainty, and the remoteness, the chance of succession of pleasures, the purity and the extent of the pleasure. When determining whether an action is right we should take these seven factors into account. The hedonic calculus gave Bentham a method of testing whether an action is morally right or wrong and placed a numerical value on the outcome meaning whatever is good or bad can be measured in a quantitative way. This might seem a mathematical and numerical way to measure pleasure, however it has been said that Bentham's version of Utilitarianism can be used to justify horrific acts such as torture or murder. According to utilitarianism, euthanasia would be right as the suffering and pain is taken away so the individual doesn't have to suffer and neither does the family members.

Euthanasia can also be measured by the hedonic calculus. When taking someone off a life machine. It will save money for the health care service. However, if they are kept on for longer, there would be unnecessary suffering for the family and also the person and money could otherwise be spent elsewhere, so therefore this is better for society overall.

The Hedonic calculus is all about measuring pain and pleasure that is caused from an action; it is not always useful though because sometimes people do not spend time calculating consequences properly.