Ethics Part 1 Introduction and Utilitarianism

1. Ethics Part 1Introduction and Utilitarianism James Van Slyke

2. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) • Human Nature • Persons live purely for self-interest • Egoism – acting for one’s own gratification and the avoidance of harm • Without the state, persons live in constant fear of others

3. Lord of the Flies • Human Nature • Core of human nature is primal/savage (egoism) • Once the constraints of society are gone, boys revert to true nature • Violence

4. Lord of the Flies • Violence and primal human nature take over • Simon – compassion (religion) • Ralph – civilization; leadership • Piggy (glasses) – science and philosophy

5. Leviathan(1651) • State of Nature • Outside Society is ruled by violence and self-interest • Thus, government is necessary to constrain egoism • Social Contract Theory • Form a contract based on mutual self-interest • Basis for Ethics

6. Ethics • Four Domains • Actions • Consequences • Character • Motive

7. Virtue Ethics • Aristotle • Most important to develop virtues lead to correct motive • Character will most often lead to right action • Courage, piety, etc. • Looking at the habits of morality

8. Deontological Ethics • Immanuel Kant • Look for Universal Ethics • What are the ethical laws one should always follow • The ends do not justify the means • Ethical imperatives should be universally verifiable • Principle is binding in all cases

9. Utilitarianism • Utilitarianism says that the Result or the Consequence of an Act is the real measure of whether it is good or bad. • Theories, like this one, that emphasize the results or consequences are called teleological or consequentialist.

10. Bentham’s Formulation of Utilitarianism • Man is under two great masters, pain and pleasure. • The great good that we should seek is happiness. • Those actions whose results increase happiness or diminish pain are good. They have “utility.”

11. Four Theses of Utilitarianism • Consequentialism: The rightness of actions is determined solely by their consequences. • Hedonism: Utility is the degree to which an act produces pleasure. Hedonism is the thesis that pleasure is the good that we seek. • Maximalism: A right action produces the greatest good consequences and the least bad. • Universalism: The consequences to be considered are those of everyone, and everyone equally.

12. Jeremy Bentham’s Hedonistic Calculus • In determining the quantity of happiness that might be produced by an action, we evaluate the possible consequences by applying several values: • Intensity, duration, extent, certainty or uncertainty

13. John Stuart Mill’s Adjustments to Utilitarianism • Mill argues that we must consider the quality of the happiness, not merely the quantity. • What is the kind or type of happiness/pleasure sought after

14. Reformulating Happiness • Looking for higher-order pleasures • Intellectual • Aesthetic • Creative • Instead of lower-level • Eating and drinking • Sexuality

15. Mill’s Adjustments • Eudaimonistic Utilitarianism • Humans desire more than basic pleasure to be happy • Attempts to adjust our understanding of pleasure while still holding to the avoidance of pain as a primary motivator