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1、,Utilitarianism,功利主义,Classical Utilitarianism,1,CONTENT,2,The founders of classical utilitarianism were Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873).,Jeremy Bentham an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer, 1748-1832 Bases ethics and politics on principle of utility Maximiz
2、e Pleasure / Minimize Pain John Stuart Mill an English philosopher, political economist and civil servant, 1806-1873 More sophisticated version of utilitarianism Quality of Happiness / Quantity of People Lower Pleasures / Higher Pleasures,Founders,3,Definition,Utilitarianism is a theory in normative
3、 ethics holding that the best moral action is the one that maximizes utility(功利最大化). Utility is defined in various ways, but is usually related to thewell-beingofsentient.,The goal of this theory is encapsulated in Benthams aphorism that the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundatio
4、n of morals and legislation.,4,The Principle of Utility is the basic tenet of classical utilitarianism. There are two formulations of this principle: The morally best alternative is that which produces the greatest net utility. (The word “utility” is defined in terms of happiness/pleasures.) The rig
5、ht action is the one which produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.,How to calculate the greatest amount of happiness?,Principle of Utility: One should always act as to bring about the “greatest good for the greatest number”,5,6,How to Calculate the Greatest Amoun
6、t of Happiness?,According to classical utilitarianism, we must measure, count, and compare the pleasures likely produced by various alternative actions in order to know which is best. The classical utilitarianism argue that we must take into account the following factors: Each human being affected s
7、hould be counted equally; Pleasure minus pain; Intensity; Duration; Fruitfulness; Likelihood; The quality of the pleasure.,7,First Factor: Every Human is Equal,The happiness (and unhappiness) of all those people affected by an act is to be considered. Everyone affected by a given action is to be cou
8、nted equally. We ourselves (and those close to us) hold no privileged position and our happiness (and that of those close to us) counts no more than that of others. For Bentham and Mill, the happiness of other animals should be taken into account as well.,8,Example: -Act A makes me happy and 2 other
9、 people happy. -Act B makes me unhappy but 5 other people happy. Comment: In this scenario, all else being equal, act B is a better choice that act A.,9,One of the classic techniques used to measure a persons willingness to behave in a utilitarian way is known as trolleyology. The subject of the stu
10、dy is challenged with thought experiments involving a runaway railway trolley or train carriage. All involve choices, each of which leads to peoples deaths. For example: there are five railway workmen in the path of a runaway carriage. The men will surely be killed unless the subject of the experime
11、nt, a bystander in the story, does something. The subject is told he is on a bridge over the tracks. Next to him is a big, heavy stranger. The subject is informed that his own body would be too light to stop the train, but that if he pushes the stranger onto the tracks, the strangers large body will
12、 stop the train and save the five lives. That, unfortunately, would kill the stranger.,电车实验,Trolleyology,10,Second Factor: Pleasure minus Pain,When an act produces both pleasures and pains, we can think of each moment of unhappiness as cancelling out a moment of happiness, so that what is left to ev
13、aluate is the remaining happiness (net (净得的) happiness). Thus we can calculate this net amount by adding and subtracting units of pleasure and pains.,11,Example: -Act A produces 12 units of happiness and 6 units of unhappiness. The net(净得的) happiness would be 6 units of happiness. -Act B produces 10
14、 units of happiness and 1 unit of unhappiness. The net happiness would be 9 units of happiness. Comment: In this scenario, all else being equal, act B is preferable to act A.,12,Third Factor: Intensity,All else being equal, the more intense the pleasure, the better. All else being equal, if I have a
15、n apple to give away and am deciding which of two friends to give it to, I ought to give it to the friend who will enjoy it most. In calculations involving intensity of pleasure, a scale is useful. We could use a positive scale of 1 to 10 degrees, from the least pleasurable to the most pleasurable.,
16、13,Example: -Act A gives 40 people each mild pleasure (2 degrees of pleasure). So the total degrees of pleasure produced by act A would be 80 degrees. -Act B gives 10 people each intense pleasure (10 degrees of pleasure). The total degrees would then be 100 degrees of pleasure. Comment: All else bei
17、ng equal, act B is better than act A.,14,Fourth Factor: Duration,All else being equal, the longer lasting the pleasure, the better the pleasure. Example: -Act A gives 3 people each 8 days of happiness. So act A would produce 24 days of happiness. -Act B gives 10 people each 1 day of happiness. So ac
18、t B would produce 10 days of happiness. Comment: All else being equal, act A is preferable to act B.,The fruitfulness of an act depends on whether it makes us more capable of experiencing similar and other pleasures. The fruitfulness depends not only on the immediate pleasure but also on the long-te
19、rm results. For example, relaxing event may make one person more capable of experiencing other pleasures of friendship or understanding.,15,Fifth Factor: Fruitfulness,16,Sixth Factor: Likelihood,Before acting, we must estimate the likely results of each alternative action. It make turn out that we o
20、ught to choose an act with lesser benefits, if the chance of success for the act is much higher than that of other alternative acts.,17,Example: -Act A has 90% chance of giving 8 people each 5 days of pleasure. So act A would produce 40 days X 0.9 = 36 days of happiness. -Act B has 40% chance of giv
21、ing 10 people each 7 days of pleasure. So act B would produce 70 days X 0.4 =28 days of happiness. Comment: In this scenario, act A may well be preferable to act B.,18,Seventh Factor: The Quality of Pleasure,While Mill agreed with Bentham that the greater amount of pleasure the better, Mill also bel
22、ieved that the quality of the pleasure should also count. For Mill, some pleasures are intrinsically better than others. For example, intellectual pleasures are more valuable in themselves than purely sensual pleasures.,19,Two principles of Utilitarianism,20,Two principles of Utilitarianism,Maximum
23、happiness,Individual happiness and social happiness,The social happiness is composed of individual happiness,promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people,21,Two principles of Utilitarianism,Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It
24、is for them alone to point out what we ought to do By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: or, what is th
25、e same thing in other words to promote or to oppose that happiness.,Self selection principles,22,Mills argument for the thesis that some pleasures are intrinsically better than others: (1) People generally would prefer living a human life of fewer net pleasures to living the life of a pig in a zoo having a greater total amount of pleasures. (2) Most people take pleasures as the only intrinsic goods. (3) We value, not only the amount of pleasures, but also the kind of pleasures, and we value the latter more.,Argument,Thank you,23,