Explore Bentham’s act utilitarianism. -8 marks
Utilitarianism is based on the Principle of Utility which
says to always act so as to produce the greatest
happiness for the greatest number. A utilitarian says
that actions are most useful when they produce
happiness/ pleasure for the maximum number of
people possible; Bentham described this as, “mankind
[being] placed under two sovereign masters, pleasure
and pain”.
This means that utilitarianism is concerned with
teleological ethics (consequentialism); the word
‘teleological’ comes from the Greek word ‘telos’,
meaning purpose. The consequences of an action, the
link between act and consequence, is most important
when making moral decisions for a utilitarian. There is
no act that is intrinsically good or bad; every act is
judged to be good or bad based on the result it
produces, so actions are extrinsically or instrumentally
good. For Bentham, human beings are “rational
pleasure-seekers.” so humans are motivated by
pleasure.
An act utilitarian will abandon all ideas about
ethical rules, and they will approach each situation
differently and make a decision that will maximise
overall happiness in that particular situation. For
example, an act utilitarian would not accept a general
rule of not making promises. Instead, they would treat
each promise as a unique situation and work out
Utilitarianism is based on the Principle of Utility which
says to always act so as to produce the greatest
happiness for the greatest number. A utilitarian says
that actions are most useful when they produce
happiness/ pleasure for the maximum number of
people possible; Bentham described this as, “mankind
[being] placed under two sovereign masters, pleasure
and pain”.
This means that utilitarianism is concerned with
teleological ethics (consequentialism); the word
‘teleological’ comes from the Greek word ‘telos’,
meaning purpose. The consequences of an action, the
link between act and consequence, is most important
when making moral decisions for a utilitarian. There is
no act that is intrinsically good or bad; every act is
judged to be good or bad based on the result it
produces, so actions are extrinsically or instrumentally
good. For Bentham, human beings are “rational
pleasure-seekers.” so humans are motivated by
pleasure.
An act utilitarian will abandon all ideas about
ethical rules, and they will approach each situation
differently and make a decision that will maximise
overall happiness in that particular situation. For
example, an act utilitarian would not accept a general
rule of not making promises. Instead, they would treat
each promise as a unique situation and work out
