College of Teacher Education
First Semester, A.Y. 2020-2021
Module 11
Utilitarianism
Course Title: Ethics
Course Code: GE 8
Name: ___________________________________
Course and Year: __________________________
Date and Time Allotment: _______ (3 hours)
Introduction
This module entitled Utilitarianism emphasizes the common good for the benefit of the many. What is good
or right is anything useful, beneficial and serviceable to attain the ultimate goal of an action. Utilitarianism was
brought to the center by Jeremy Bentham, who applied his empirical beliefs to moral and political theories.
I. Objectives:
In this module, you will be able to:
1. Understand and define utilitarianism.
2. Appreciate the value of utilitarianism.
3. Asses when to use utilitarianism.
II. Lecture and Discussions of the lesson/s
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832, England)
Greatly influenced by John Locke and David Hume
Known as the “Father of Utilitarianism”
Birth: February 15, 1724, Spitalfields, London, England
Death: June 6, 1832, Westminster, London, England
Studied Bachelor of Arts Degree at Queen’s College, Oxford and
Law at Lincoln’s Inn
His father Jeremiah Bentham was a successful lawyer in the Court
of Chancery and his mother Alicia Whitehorn ńee Grove was pious
woman
He is an English philosopher, economist, theoretical jurist, reformer and
thinker. His most important work is “An Introduction to the Principles of
Morals and Legislation.”
www.official-theory.com
As founder of Utilitarianism, he is greatly respected for having involved
in making prisons more humane, campaigning for greater democracy and free education, improving working
condition, employment, minimum wage, sickness benefits and old age insurance.
He has defined the human person and its actions as basically governed or motivated by pleasure and
pain. This fundamental role of pleasure and pain holds that everything pleasurable is good and
everything painful is evil or bad.
Happiness is pleasure that is desirable in the ends and inherently good.
Utilitarianism or Utilitarian Theory
Comes from the Latin word “utilis” which means useful, beneficial, profitable, advantageous and serviceable.
It is considered as the most influential teleological or consequentialist. It is claimed to have long originated
from the Greek Epicurus (341-271 B.C) who that the end or purpose of all actions is primarily to attain
pleasure for oneself the limitation of desires and removing the fear of death and of goods.
In Utilitarianism, what is good or right is anything that is useful, beneficial, advantageous and serviceable in
the consequences or ends (telos). “The end justifies the means” including the intention. Intentions and
means are neither good or bad.
Utilitarianism opposes duty, reason, virtue, God, emotion, self-interest, love as the basis of morality.
Jeremy Bentham’s Utility Principle
“The greatest good is that which produces the greatest pleasure for the greatest number.”
Two Types of Utilitarianism
1. Act Utilitarianism – The principle of utility is directly applied to every moral action. The right act is the one
which brings about the best end or the least amount of wrong or bad end. Nicollo Machiavelli’s principle: “A
prince may hurt some individuals and would be justified in his actions if it were for the benefit of the whole
state,” is an exact act utilitarianism.
2. Rule Utilitarianism – The Principle of utility is applied to validate any rule of conduct or moral principle. The
right or good rule is the one which brings about the best end or the least amount of wrong or bad end. Legal
laws that are enacted for the common good are rule utilitarian. This is because the wrong or bad actions that
the government punishes are any violations against the law or rule.
Bentham suggested a Hedonistic Calculus or utility calculus that could be used to determine the moral status
and circumstance of the action. He called it the “felicific calculus” (from Latin: Felicitas or felix – fruitful, blessed,
happy): InDeCeReFePuEx.
Intensity How intense the pleasure will be?
Duration How long will it last?
Certainty How certain will it occur?
Remoteness How near it is?
Fecundity How much will it lead to similar kind of pleasure?
Purity How much free it is from pain?
Extent How many people will gain pleasure?
John Stuart Mill (1748-1873)
Greatly influenced by his father James and Jeremy Bentham
Known as “most influential English-speaking Philosopher” of the 19th
century
Birth: May 20, 1806, Pentoville, London
Death: 1873, London, England
Studied Greek at 3 years old and Latin at 8 years old
His father was James Mill, a Scottish philosopher.
Reading history books at the age of 6
A logician at 12 and economist at 16
www.picryl.com
He was a British philosopher, naturalist, liberalist, economist, and
moral-political theorist. His books and essays were centered logic,
epistemology, economics, social and political philosophy, ethics, and religion.
He is a great follower of Bentham.
He later married a widow and was elected to the House of Commons.
He ran for reelection but was lost.
He does not agree with Bentham’s idea that all pleasures are of equal value. For him, it is not quantity that
should be measured but the quality of the pleasure felt.
According to him, “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates
dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is only because they only know
their own side of the question.
He believes that different forms of pleasure should be ranked according to how valuable they are (Mill, 1861).
There are different kinds of pleasure, the higher and the lower forms of pleasure. It does not bode well for the
advancement of civilization if the hedonistic calculus will be followed without considering the kinds of pleasure
involved because more people might pursue the lower forms of pleasure, more than the higher forms of
pleasure.
The higher forms of pleasure are those that will allow us to exercise human being’s higher faculties like for
example, one will choose to learn and be educated (uses higher faculty) than to be ignorant and be a fool. The
pursuit of intellectual pleasures is deemed as better than the pursuit of physical or bodily pleasures. But who
decides then? To address this issue, the solution was to give the decision to somebody who has experienced
both – that is, if the competing acts for example, are eating pizza or reading poetry, then only the one who has
done both can decide which act is morally good.
Mill’s Utilitarian Principle
Happiness Principle: “The greatest good is greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.”
This promotes the capability of achieving quality happiness or higher pleasures for the most amount of
people. It is the sole basis of morality, the very desire and end of everyone. Everything is just means to happiness
such as rights.
Mill believed that people become unhappy because of selfishness and lack or mental cultivation. Education
should help nurture appropriate values that can make people selfless. Evils of the world such as disease and poverty
can be eliminated if only people work together.
Mill thought that virtuous people such as the heroes and martyrs do not deny themselves of happiness.
Rather, they sacrifice happiness for the greatest end or the happiness of the greatest number of people. Having the
attitude of self-sacrifice for Mill is the best chance of gaining happiness but not good in itself. It is just good insofar as
it promotes happiness.
Utilitarianism may be godless since happiness may not be the will of God. But Mill thinks that if God desires
the happiness of all His people, then utilitarianism could be a better religion.
Quantity vs Quality
Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill: Higher and Lower Pleasures
Quantity of pleasure. Quality of pleasure
All pleasures are of equal value. … “better to be a dissatisfied human being than a pig
“Push-pin (a simple child’s game) is as good as satisfied; and better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a
poetry.” fool satisfied.”
Higher: Intellectual
Lower: Physical /Bestial
For Mill intellectual pleasures are intrinsically more
valuable than physical pleasures.
Those who have felt kinds will prefer intellectual
pleasure.
III. Other References
1. Makie, Gleemoore C., Ethics: Flourishing Life, Research, Statistics, Business Consultancy and Publishing
Company, 2020
2. Pasco M. O., Suàrez V. F., Rodriguez A. G., “Ethics” C&E Publishing, Inc., 2018
3. Bulaong O., Calano M., Lagliva A., Mariano M., Principe J., “Ethics: Foundation of Moral Valuation”, 1st
edition, REX Book Store, 2018
4. Ramos, Carmela, “Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person”, (1st edition), REX Book Store,
2016
