Utilitarianism – Revision
Possible questions: Explain the theory:  Describe and explain the main principles of Utilitarianism (or specific features e.g. Mill’s Utilitarianism)  Explain the main differences between Act and Rule Utilitarianism (or other variants) Apply the theory:  Explain a Utilitarian approach to issues raised by fertility treatment (or any other issue) Evaluate the theory:  Explain the main strengths of a Utilitarian ethical system (or e.g. Bentham’s Utilitarianism)  What are Utilitarianism’s main weaknesses?  To what extent is Utilitarianism a useful method of making decisions about euthanasia? (or any other issue)

Explain the theory:  The principle of utility (teleological, consequentialist)  Bentham (Hedonism, Hedonic Calculus, quantitative)  Mill (qualitative, higher/lower pleasures, individual sovereignty)  Act/Rule Utilitarianism  Preference Utilitarianism (Hare, Singer) and other advances Evaluate the theory: Strengths  Makes the world a better place (Bentham/Mill were reformers who made positive changes)  Practical and useful (this is the way lottery money is distributed or hospital budgets are spent) and easy to use  Flexible – allows for the fact that people find happiness in different ways in other societies  Overcomes problems inherent in deontological ethics (what do you do if two rules clash?)  Easy to apply, and intuitive – if it upsets people, don’t do it, but why is it wrong if no one gets hurt?  Fair – treats everyone’s pleasure as equal, challenging elitism and any form of favouritism Weaknesses  Consequentialism is inherently flawed – it is easy to think of examples of wrong actions that happen to lead to good consequences by chance  Hedonism is wrong – just because someone enjoys an activity (e.g. looking at paedophile pornography) this doesn’t make it right, even if no-one else was affected  Unpredictable – we cannot know what will happen, so can never know what the right course of action will be  Incalculable – what I do affects so many people, I couldn’t add up all the effects even if I could see the future  Immeasurable – you can’t put a value on our feelings. If only I was affected, e.g. by going to a concert or buying a CD, I still couldn’t put a number on the pleasure I would feel either way  It is unfair – it justifies doing horrible things to innocent people for the ‘greater good’  Naturalistic fallacy – just because people desire pleasure, this doesn’t make pleasure ‘desirable’. Or, why should we maximise people’s preferences just because they have them?