CAS PH 251 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Act Utilitarianism, Consequentialism, Thought Experiment
2 May 2018
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Utilitarianism
• The Principle of Utility – when choosing between alternative courses of action, choose
the one that promotes the most overall happiness/wellbeing and minimizes overall pain
o Utils – the measure of quantity of happiness, units of happiness
o Good = The Right – minimizes the action that overall maximizes pleasure v. pain,
happiness v. sadness
▪ Utilitarianism makes a clear distinction between what is good v. what is
right
• Good – a charitable action that is option
• Right – a dutiful action that is mandated
o Interest/Preference Satisfaction – the only way to experience pleasures or pain is
to have some standing interests and preferences
Beliefs
• 1. Utilitarianism is an inclusive moral theory
o Essentially states that all beings that experience pleasure and pain are within the
moral sphere and their interests cannot be arbitrarily discounted
o Moral Standing – meaning that you are part of a moral community and your
interests/rights must be taken into account
• 2. Utilitarianism is an impartial moral theory
o Essentially states that all interests must be considered equally regardless if some
beings’ interests have greater weight than others
▪ Important to realize that some interests are more important than others
• 3. Utilitarianism is a type of consequentialism
o Essentially states that the rightness of an act is determined by its consequences
rather than things intrinsic to the act itself
o For the utilitarian, the consequence is anything that maximizes pleasure/pain
▪ You must act in a way that maximizes expected utility
• ex: should you pay a certain person back? no – you are lying to a
person & yes – you are going to use the money for a better cause
• answer: a utilitarian would say that it would be best to not pay
someone back
▪ It is not about what will happen but what can happen
o Important to ask: what is the timeframe? how far into the future are we looking?
Types of Utilitarianism
• Moral rules are only instrumentally valuable
• Both forms of utilitarianism can overlap in some areas
o Act Utilitarianism – moral agents should act in each action so as to maximize the
expected overall utility
o Rule Utilitarianism – moral agents should adhere to moral rules that tend to
maximize the overall good
▪ This form of utilitarianism has an epistemic justification
▪ ex: there are certain rules that tend to maximize utility in societies and
thus these should be followed always
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