1. UTILITARIANISM 2. CONSEQUENTIALISM 3. TELEOLOGICAL 4. DEONTOLOGICAL 5. MOTIVATION 6. HEDONISM 7. MORAL FACT 8. UTILITY 9.

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2 1. UTILITARIANISM 2. CONSEQUENTIALISM 3. TELEOLOGICAL 4. DEONTOLOGICAL 5. MOTIVATION 6. HEDONISM 7. MORAL FACT 8. UTILITY 9. GREATEST GOOD 10.DEMOCRATIC

3 Human beings are motivated by pleasure and pain. All humans pursue pleasure and seek to avoid pain. This is a moral fact because pleasure and pain identify what is a good or a bad action. The rightness or wrongness of an action is judged by its utility or usefulness to produce pleasure. The greatest happiness of the greatest number.

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5 To explain Bentham s Hedonic Calculus To explain application of the Calculus to situations KEY WORDS: HEDONIC CALCULUS PLEASURE QUANTATITIVE QUALITATIVE

6 The rightness or wrongness of an action is judged by its utility or usefulness to produce pleasure. because pleasure produces a feeling of happiness it is used interchangeably in the utility principle. The action that produces the most happiness is the most moral.

7 What if the circumstances are equal. Two men are in the car. Both are doctors Both are GP s with the same number of patients in their surgery. Who does he save then?

8 Think: If you were to measure pleasure (Hedonism), how would you do it? What would you look for?

9 In calculating the greatest happiness for the greatest number we must determining the quantity of happiness that might be produced by an action, we evaluate the possible consequences by applying several values: 1. Purity Extent of combinations of pleasure and pain 2. Propinquity or remoteness If it is immediate 3. Fecundity likelihood of Repetition Likely to lead to more 4. Intensity How strong the pain or pleasure is 5. Certainty or uncertainty How likely is there to be pain or pleasure 6. Extent The number of people affected 7. Duration Whether it is short-lived or life-long P.P.R.I.C.E.D

10 Intensity The intensity of the pleasure caused by an act is reasonably self-explanatory. Mild pleasure is less valuable than intense pleasure, and so acts leading to the latter are to be preferred to acts leading to the former, other things being equal. Propinquity When deciding what to do, Bentham thought, we should bear in mind how distant are the anticipated benefits of each possible course of action. The more distant the benefits, in either space or time, the less weight we should give them in making our decision. Duration The duration of the pleasure caused by an act must also be taken into account when assessing the goodness of the act. Transient pleasure is less valuable than lasting pleasure, and so acts leading to the latter are to be preferred to acts leading to the former, other things being equal. Fecundity The fecundity of an act is the likelihood that the pleasures or pains that it causes will be followed by similar pleasures or pains. If the happiness that an act causes is likely to be followed by yet more happiness, then that act is better than a similar act that will cause only one isolated instance of happiness. Similarly, if the pain that an act causes is likely to be followed by still more pains, then that act is worse than it would otherwise be. Certainty The certainty criterion refers to the probability of the pleasure resulting from the act; how likely is it that the act will bring about the anticipated pleasure? If we must choose between an act that will definitely cause pleasure and an act that will only possibly bring about pleasure, then we do better to perform the former. Purity It is also important to be attentive to the purity of the pleasure and pain caused by an act. An act that causes only pleasure is better than one that causes the same amount of pleasure mixed with a little pain. When pleasure or pain are unmixed with their opposites, their purity is high; when they are so mixed, their purity is diminished. Extent The final criterion for quantifying the pleasure caused by an act is its extent: the more people enjoy the pleasure, the better. This criterion, unlike the previous six, was not among the original criteria described by Bentham, but was added by John Stuart Mill.

11 Write down the 7 criteria that Bentham devised!

12 If you can use eighty soldiers as a decoy in war, and thereby attack an enemy force and kill several hundred enemy soldiers, that is a morally good choice even though the eighty might be lost. If lying or stealing will actually bring about more happiness and/or reduce pain, we should lie and steal in those cases. The balance of pleasures and pains is compared with those of other options and the best results determined. The action that leads to this consequence is the MORALLY correct one to pursue.

13 1. Are all actions only good because they have good results? 2. Suppose a surgeon could use the organs of one healthy patient to save the lives of several others. Would the surgeon be justified in killing the healthy patient for the sake of the others? 3. Suppose a rape is committed that is thought to be racially motivated. Riots are brewing that may result in many deaths and long term racial antagonism. You are the police chief and have recently taken a man into custody. Why not frame him? He will be imprisoned if found guilty and this will result in peace and safety. Only you, the innocent man and the real rapist (who will keep quiet), will know the truth. What is the morally right thing to do?

14 1. You are an army officer who has just captured an enemy soldier who knows where a secret time bomb is planted. If it explodes it will kill thousands. Will it be morally permissible to torture the solider so that he reveals the bomb s location? If you knew where the soldier's children were, would it also be permissible to torture them to get him to reveal the bomb s whereabouts?

15 The hedonic calculus is a quantitative assessment of a situation. It is therefore, concerned with the quantity of pleasure it produces. The greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest amount of people The quantity of that pleasure is assessed against the Hedonic Calculus. Quantitative is the opposite of qualitative (which is concerned with quality rather than quantity.)

16 Explain Bentham s Hedonic Calculus? Explain application of the Calculus to situations? DO I KNOW THESE KEY WORDS? HEDONIC CALCULUS PLEASURE QUANTATITIVE QUALITATIVE

17 Use UTILITARIAN Ethics (P.P.R.I.C.E.D) to consider whether a 15 year old pregnant girl should have an abortion or keep it her baby. The action that produces the most happiness is the most moral.

18 What are the problems with using the Hedonic Calculus? P.P.R.I.C.E.D

19 Calculus: Have abortion Don't have abortion 100% pain May lead to regret; possibly inability to Could fail exams - not get a good job - have free = Purity have children in the future a poor quality of life (mother and baby) NOW = AGAIN = Propinquity / Remoteness STRONG pleasure = Intensity How likely will there be Certainty? The relief is immediate Repetition / Richness More choices and freedom in life You might argue that a person without a child can enjoy a wide range of intense pleasures Any benefits/pleasures are a long way away Joy of being a mother; many joys experienced by the baby Having a child might bring intense feelings of joy repeatedly; the child itself may experience intense pleasure throughout its life; the child may cause equally intense pain The freedom from the pain of an unwanted It is uncertain what pleasures continuing child is certain with the pregnancy might bring P.P.R.I.C.E.D How MANY people effected? Extent The mother and her immediate family are most directly affected Having the baby will affect a vast number of people, but many cancel each other out as each life brings pleasure and pain How LONG will last? Duration The freedom might last a long time (even for the rest of the girl's life, although if she were to get pregnant again, it may be wrong to consider her free) The child will bring pleasure (and pain) for a lifetime

20 Just how useful is the Hedonic Calculus? There are some circumstances when you can usefully use the calculus as a guide to determining the overall effects of a course of action, such as in choosing how to spend lottery money, or in deciding how to prioritise medical procedures in a hospital. However, many of our moral decisions do not have predictable or measurable outcomes at all. It is unclear what counts as pleasure or how to equate pleasure and pain. There are three key points here: Unpredictable - You can't know the future, and things rarely turn out as we think they will. It cannot be right to judge an action right or wrong based on outcomes that are down to chance. Incalculable - Even if you knew exactly what would happen, it is impossible to add up all of the pain and pleasure resulting from a course of action. There's simply too much to calculate Immeasurable - A more fundamental flaw. Even with the simplest event - choosing whether to buy a toy or a magazine for a child - it is impossible to decide on a value to give for happiness. Is the joy of reading a magazine more intense than the joy of playing with a toy? Pleasure cannot be measured, so the idea of adding it all up doesn't work.

21 Just how useful is the Hedonic Calculus? There is also something instinctively wrong with judging the morality of an action by it s outcome. The action that produces the most happiness is the most moral. a person motivated solely by greed or revenge might choose a course of action that happens to make the greatest number of people happy. Does this make him a good person? Even more concerning is the possibility of sadists whose pleasure at torturing others is so great that this in itself makes their actions good. What about gang rape? 10 men rape one young girl.

22 The action that produces the most happiness is the most moral. The theory seems to support the exploitation and abuse of minority groups if it pleases the ruling majority.

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24 PPQ 2012 Question 1 Utilitarianism Explain how a Utilitarian might use the hedonic calculus in making moral decisions. Illustrate your answer with reference to any ethical issue(s) of your choice. (Do not choose abortion or euthanasia.) (30 marks) Should a couple undergo IVF treatment?

25 DON T just list all 7 features of the Hedonic Calculus. Back these ideas up with EXAMPLES!