Carla Mariz N. Sace MGT Prof. Morandarte A71/8:30-10:00/M-W-F UTILITARIANISM Utilitarianism is sometimes called a c_onsequentiality_ theory in that the primary consideration is the consequence of the decision. Utilitarianism is an effort to provide an answer to the practical question “What ought a man to do?” Its answer is that he ought to act so as to produce the best consequences possible. Utilitarianism is a modern form of the Hedonistic ethical theory which teaches that the end of human conduct is happiness, and that consequently the discriminating norm which distinguishes conduct into right and wrong is pleasure and pain. In the words of one of its most distinguished advocates, John Stuart Mill, the creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, utility or the greatest happiness principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure (_Utilitarianism_, ii, 1863). The Basic Idea of Utilitarianism The Greatest Happiness Principle:
Background on Utilitarianism English philosophers John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) and Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) were the leading proponents of what is now called “classic utilitarianism”. The Utilitarian’s were social reformers They supported suffrage for women and those without property, and the abolition of slavery. Utilitarian’s argued that criminals ought to be reformed and not merely punished (although Mill did support capital punishment as a deterrent). Bentham spoke out against cruelty to animals. Mill was a strong supporter of meritocracy. Proponents emphasized that utilitarianism was an egalitarian doctrine. Everyone’s happiness counts equally. Utilitarianism and the Enlightenment The science of the Enlightenment featured theories with a very small number of general laws and vast explanatory power. Newton’s laws,...