Post #3 Ethics – Utilitarianism

     For the next moral theory we look at in the ethics series, we will now look at utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a very popular and well-known moral theory because it is applied almost every day in our lives. Where other theories such as categorical imperative are used occasionally in our lives, utilitarianism is used the rest of the time when making moral decisions, almost guaranteed. 

    Utilitarianism tends to have different offshoots, which we will discern later, but for now we will focus on the same overall idea between every form of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory, meaning that, alternatively to Kant's categorical imperative, the rightness and wrongness of an action can only be determined by the consequences of that action. Utilitarianism is a combination of three theses: hedonism, maximalism, and universalism. Hedonism is the idea that pleasure is the highest good, and as such is the only thing to be intrinsically valuable in life. Maximalism is the idea that a right action is an action that produces the largest net amount of good consequences when the bad consequences are also considered. Universalism, similar to the categorical imperative, is the idea that those consequences considered are to be the consequences for everyone involved. When put together, hedonistic utilitarianism's overall moral principle is "An action is right if and only if it maximizes the net overall pleasure of those affected by the action."

    Now we have to split hairs on the types of utilitarianism. Starting with the oldest, we have the quantitative hedonism version. Written by Jeremy Bentham in 1781, utilitarianism with quantitative hedonism tends to follow Bentham's Calculus of Felicity, more commonly known as Hedonic Calculus. In Hedonic Calculus, seven factors are taken into account when determining the rightness of an action. Those factors are the intensity, duration, certainty, nearness, purity, extent, and fecundity. Fecundity is a complex word used to simply mean how likely a pleasure or pain is to be followed by a similar experience, so the more fecund a pleasure the better, but the more fecund a pain is the worse it is. Using each of these factors, one must take an accountant-like approach to determining, after all of the factors are considered, which action will produce the most pleasure overall. Quantitative hedonistic utilitarianism holds all pleasures to be experienced in life to be the same, whether it is completing a challenging puzzle or eating a delicious piece of cake.

    Next, let us look at the qualitative hedonism of John Stuart Mill. Mill was a stalwart defender of utilitarianism, and commonly took up the duty to respond to criticisms of utilitarianism under Bentham. One point which Mill confessed was a mistake on Bentham's behalf, though, was the notion that all pleasures are to be weighed equally. Mill took a qualitative approach to the value of pleasures rather than viewing them all as equal. Mill asserted that those pleasures only realizable by humans (e.g. reading a book or solving a puzzle) are of a higher value than animalistic pleasures(e.g. eating, sleeping, or sexual pleasures). This isn't to say that Mill completely disregards the quantity of pleasure, but rather takes both into account, though admittedly placing more importance on the quality than the quantity of pleasures.

Utilitarianism is a highly applicable moral theory to everyday lives, though not without its faults, as we will see in the post. Utilitarianism is the general moral theory behind legislations around the globe, providing the most good to the largest amount of people.