Jessica Reese
11/01/01

Utility - Pleasure and the absence of
pain, or simply, happiness,
or net pleasure.
Total pleasure - pain - net pleasure

Theory of Action - Consequentialism:
the view that the morality of an act
stems from it’s consequences or
results, not from some quality in the act
itself.

Contrast with the Theory of Deontology

*Deontology says that some acts are
inherently wrong. For example,
torture is inherently wrong.

Utilitarian might say if you can
maximize happiness and it’s for a greater
good, then torture is okay. Maybe that
person possibly has knowledge
that would prevent terrorism on our
country . We weigh the result of the
terrorism against the torture of that
single individual.

Utilitarians say you need to maximize
happiness for all feeling beings -
even animals


Criticisms of Utilitarianism

1. Difficult to calculate consequences.
- not the exact science Bentham
claims Hedonistic calculation is

2. Bias
- we end up merely justifying
preconceived values we already have.

3. How long do you wait to see whether
your act was right or not?

4. Motive is irreverent.

Mill Defense:

1. Use rules of thumb as practical
guidelines
- break as needed
example: usually wrong to steal, but if
starving in the wilderness and
come across a log cabin w/freeze dried
food, you’d eat
it.

2. Wait a reasonable amount of time:
- Short time for little things
- long time for big things
example Bombing Afghanistan. May
not know for ten years if it was
the right thing to do.
3. Consider Rational Probabilities
- You can’t expect perfection