COMM 4334 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Fecundity, John Stuart Mill, Act Utilitarianism
14 Dec 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
9/22/16
• Keith Lamont Scott was shot by police officer
• Daughter went live on FB
• Her video was republished & shown by the news media
Shooting in Charlotte
• Was it ethical for the news media to show that video?
• What are the consequences of the media sharing that video?
Jeremy Bentham
• British (1748 – 1832)
• Intro to the Principles of Morals & Legislation
• Hedonistic Utilitarianism
• Morality not about God or following abstract rules
Utilitarianism
• Good = pleasure
• Bad = painful
• Greatest happiness principle:
o Maximize happiness & minimize unhappiness for as many as possible
o Emphasis on the parties concerned (stakeholders)
• Who decides?
o Each person decides for self
o Evaluate the consequences
o Solely based on consequences
o Egalitarian
Hedonistic calculus
• Intensity → how intense is the pain or pleasure?
• Duration → how long do you expect the pain or pleasure to last?
• Certainty or uncertainty → how certain are you that the consequences will
follow from the actions you will take?
• Remoteness → how far away is the pain or pleasure in time or place?
• Fecundity → what is the likelihood that the action you take will be followed
by a similar pain or a similar pleasure?
• Purity → what is the possibility that it will lead to the opposite sensation,
pain leading to pleasure, pleasure leading to pain?
• Extent → how many people will be affected by the decision?
Consider a PR Case
• New drug introduced meant to be a vaccine for cancer, a side effect has
evolved. A few ppl have become zombies, unclear how many will develop
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
9/22/16: keith lamont scott was shot by police officer, daughter went live on fb, her video was republished & shown by the news media. Jeremy bentham: british (1748 1832, intro to the principles of morals & legislation, hedonistic utilitarianism, morality not about god or following abstract rules. Consider a pr case: new drug introduced meant to be a vaccine for cancer, a side effect has evolved. A few ppl have become zombies, unclear how many will develop side effect. You do know if you use this drug you will obliterate cancer. If so, how much do you tell them: use hedonistic calculus to walk through it. Bentham criticism: overly simplistic does(cid:374)"t gi(cid:448)e us a (cid:374)u(cid:373)(cid:271)er s(cid:272)ale or e(cid:454)plai(cid:374) ho(cid:449) to get through the calculus, is one item more important than the other, we are biased, our choices reflect our natural bias (i. e. emotions)
