Utilitarianism

Religious Studies: KS3, topic 3.1.10

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham in the late 1700s.

In the late 1700s, Britain was influenced by the Enlightenment.
The Enlightenment was a period when people began to rely more on reason and evidence instead of religious authority.
Bentham wanted to create a moral system that didn’t depend on God.

Bentham believed that the best action is the one that creates the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
This is a consequence-based theory, meaning that what matters most is the result of an action, not the intention behind it.
If something leads to more overall happiness than harm, a utilitarian will usually see it as the right thing to do.

Bentham wanted a way to measure how good or bad an action might be. He developed the Hedonic Calculus as a method for weighing up different types of pleasure and pain and deciding which action is likely to bring the most happiness.
Some measures include:
Intensity (how strong the pleasure or pain is).
Duration (how long it lasts).
Certainty (how likely it is to happen).
Purity (whether the pleasure is free from pain).
Extent (how many people are affected).

John Stuart Mill made one key change to the Hedonic Calculus.
Mill argued that the quality of pleasure matters more than the quantity.
Some pleasures (such as reading literature) would be ‘higher pleasures’ because they use our minds and make us more fulfilled.
Other pleasures (such as eating) would be ‘lower pleasures’ that we share with animals.
Some may argue this view is elitist, but Mill believed higher pleasures lead to a better kind of happiness.

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