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John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism

John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism. Overview. Consequentialism in General The Principle of Utility An Ethic for Swine? Proving the Principle More Application. Consequentialism. Consequentialism: The belief that acts are morally right or wrong depending on their consequences .

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John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism

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  1. John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism

  2. Overview • Consequentialism in General • The Principle of Utility • An Ethic for Swine? • Proving the Principle • More Application

  3. Consequentialism • Consequentialism: The belief that acts are morally right or wrong depending on their consequences. • Morally good actions have morally good outcomes. • Morally bad actions have morally bad outcomes. • How is this different from deontology?

  4. Utilitarianism and Hedonism • Hedonism: The view that happiness is the ultimate end; morality is about making people happy. • Utilitarianism: The view that acts are right or wrong to the extent that they produce happiness (pleasure) or unhappiness (pain). • This is a form of hedonism.

  5. An Ethic for Swine? • Here is an objection to Utilitarianism • According to utilitarianism, the right thing to do is whatever produces the most pleasure, and the more pleasure the better. But more pleasure is not better. If we lived the way utilitarians recommend, we’d be living the lives of lazy swine, ignoring the higher goods. • How does Mill respond to this objection?

  6. Socrates and the Fool • “[It is] better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.” • “Whoever supposes that … the superior being, in anything like equal circumstances, is not happier than the inferior, confounds the two very different ideas, of happiness, and content.”

  7. Happiness and Contentment

  8. Proving the Principle • Everyone desires his own happiness, and nothing else. • So, the what is good in general must be the general happiness, and the more the better. • So, things are better or worse in proportion to how well they promote overall happiness.

  9. More Application • Killing Your Enemy • Telling a Lie • Giving to Charity • Eating Meat

  10. Review • According to consequentialism, an action’s rightness or wrongness comes from its consequences. • The Principle of Utility: The right action is the one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. • Mill distinguishes kinds of happiness, as well as quantities.

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