UTILITARIANISM

CHAPTER 2
INTRODUCTION
John Lloyd D. Genelsa
Maguindanao Massacre
Cited the legal brief of the Free legal Assistance Group (FLAG) arguing that
the Anti- Wire Tapping Law protects only the recording and interception of
private communications.

Cited Section 4 of the Anti- Wire Tapping Act (RA 4200) and explained that “
any communication or spoken word, or the existence, contents, substance,
purport, or meaning of the same or any part thereof, or any information therein
contained obtained or secured by any person in violation of the preceding
sections of this Act shall not be admissible in evidence in any judicial
investigation or hearing.

“ Sinabi na ni Senator Drilon na ito daw ay illegal, na hindi daw pwede, na ako
daw ay pwedeng magaing liable kung ito daw ay ipapakinig ko sa Senado, ako
naman, ano ba itong mga batas na ito?... Ang mga batas na ito ay para
malaman natin ang katotohanan at magkaroon tayo ng hustisya. Itong mga
anti- wrietapping or mga recording na ganito, KUNG HINDI PWEDENG
ILABAS SA PUBLIKO, PWEDE NAMING GAWING BASEHAN SA
EXECUTIVE SESSION. “
 What is Wire Tapping?
the practice of connecting a listening device to a
telephone line to secretly monitor a conversation.
Is wire tapping morally
permisible?
 - “utility” which refers to the
usefullness of the
consequences of one’s
action and behavior.
- Is an ethical theory that
argues for the goodness
Utilitarianism of pleasure and the
determination of right
behavior based on the
usefulness of the action’s
consequences.
JEREMY BENTHAM

Magale, Megann Raine

● Born on February 15, 1748
in Houndsditch, London,
England
● English philosopher, Jurist
and Social Reformer
● Teacher of James Mill, the
father of John Stuart Mill
JOHN STUART MILL

Goc-ong, Kirstie D.
Biography
● Born on May 20, 1806 in
Pentonville, London, United
Kingdom
● Eldest son of the Scottish
Its goal is to justify the
philosopher James Mill,and
Harriet Barrow
utilitarian principle as the
● Educated by his father, with the foundation of morals. This
advice and assistance of Jeremy principle says actions are right
Bentham and Francis Place in proportion as they tend to
● Married to Harriet Taylor promote overall human
happiness.
THE PRINCIPLE OF
UTILITY
Nowina Yucot
- In the book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789),
Jeremy Bentham begins by arguing that our actions are governed by two
“SOVEREIGN MASTERS”
SOVEREIGN MASTERS:
PLEASURE AND PAIN
SOVEREIGN MASTERS
PLEASURE AND PAIN

- Given to us by nature to help us determine what is good or bad and what ought to be done and not;
they fasten our choices to their throne.
 1st Principle of Utility- Jeremy Bentham
BY:Nickie Gargar & Sophia Altavas
Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign
masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we
ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one
hand the standard of right and wrong, on the other the chain of
causes and effects, are fastened to their throne. They govern us in
all we do, in all we say, in all we think: every effort we can make to
throw off our subjection, will serve but to demonstrate and confirm
it. In words a man may pretend to abjure their empire: but in reality
he will remain subject to it all the while. The principle of utility
recognizes this subjection, and assumes it for the foundation of that
system, the object of which is to rear the fabric of felicity by the
hands of reason and of law.
PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY BY JEREMY
BENTHAM
▪ it refers to the motivation of our actions as guided by
our avoidance of pain and pleasure.

▪ it is about our subjection to these sovereign masters:

PLEASURE 😇
- is a feeling of happiness, enjoyment, or satisfaction.

PAIN 😈
- to cause someone to feel sad, hurt or down.
PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY BY JEREMY
BENTHAM
▪ According to Bentham maximizing the pleasure and
minimizing the pain governs us in all we do, in all we say,
in all we think.
PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY BY JEREMY
In this principle any act should intend to achieve the greatest
BENTHAM
happiness for the greatest number of people.
PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY BY JEREMY
BENTHAM
(1) Recognizes the fundamental role of pain and pleasure in human
life,

(2) approves or disapproves of an action on the basis of the amount of

pain or pleasure brought about i.e, consequences,

(3) equates good with pleasure and evil with pain, and

(4) asserts that pleasure and pain are capable of quantification (and
hence 'measure')
PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY BY JEREMY
BENTHAM
In measuring pleasure and pain, Bentham introduces the following
criteria: INTENSITY, DURATION, CERTAINTY (or UNCERTAINTY),
and its NEARNESS (or FARNESS).

He also includes its "fecundity" (will more of the same follow?) and its
"purity" (its pleasure won't be followed by pain & vice versa). In
considering actions that affect numbers of people, we must also
account for its EXTENT.
The Principle that
Mill explains

Hemplo, Kella &

Reynes, Maxine
How did Mill supports Betham’s principle of
utility?
He reiterates moral good as happiness and happiness as a pleasure.

Mill clarifies that:

● Intended pleasure - what makes people happy.
● Privation of pleasure - what makes us unhappy.
● Good - the things that produce and promotes happiness and
pleasure.
● Bad - the things that produce unhappiness and pain.
“The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, utility or the greatest
happiness principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote
happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is
intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation
of please. To give a clear view of the moral standard set up by the theory, much
more requires to be said; in particular, what things it includes in the ideas of pain and
pleasure, and to what extent, this is left an open question. But these supplementary
explanations do not affect the theory of life on which this theory of morality is
grounded- namely, that pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things desirable
as ends; and that all desirable this (which are as numerous in the utilitarian as in any
other scheme) are desirable either for pleasure inherent in themselves or as a
means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain.”
 What does it implies?

We act and do things because we find them pleasurable and we

avoid doing things because they are painful and bad.

It is a principle that speaks for the goodness of others.

Mill focuses on the quality of pleasure one can achieve.

Felicific Calculus
● Common currency framework that calculates the pleasure that some
actions can produce
● An action can be evaluated on the basis of intensity or strength of
pleasure; duration or length of the experience of pleasure; certainty,
uncertainty, or the likelihood that pleasure will occur; and propinquity,
remoteness, or how soon there will be pleasure
● These indicators allow us to measure pleasure and pain in an action
● Allows the evaluation of all actions and their resultant pleasure
● Actions are evaluated on this single scale regardless of
preferences and values
● Pleasure and pain can only quantitatively differ, but not
qualitatively differ from other experiences of pleasure and
pain accordingly
John Stuart Mill
- Thinks that the principle of utility must distinguish pleasures qualitatively and
not merely quantitatively.
- Thinks that there are higher and lower base pleasures
- Argues that quality is more preferable than quantity
- Important to experience both and to discover which one is actually more
preferred than the other
- Actual choices of knowledgeable persons point that higher intellectual
pleasures are preferable than purely sensual appetites.
It is quite compatible with the principle of utility to recognize
the fact that some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and
more valuable than others. It would be absurd that while, in
estimating all other things, quality is considered as well as
quantity, the estimation of pleasure should be supposed to
depend on quantity alone.

Etable, Hannah
His argument that 'it is better to be a human being
dissatisfied, than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates
dissatisfied than a fool satisfied' claims that we should place
a higher importance on 'higher' pleasures, even if they are
more difficult to attain.
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4th Principle
Jan Danielle Bacolod
Comparative choice between intellectual and
bestial pleasures
● He asks whether a human person would prefer to accept the highly
pleasurable life of an animal while at the same time being denied of
everything that makes him a person.
● He thinks that few, if any, would give up human qualities of higher reason for
the pleasures of a pig.
It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than
a pig satisfied; better to be Socartes dissatisfied
than a fool satisfied. And if the fool or the pig, is
of different opinion, it is because they only know
their own side of the questio. The other party to
the comparison knows both side.
We can presume that:
● It would be better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied

Simply put, as human beings, we prefer the pleasures that are actually within
our grasps

● It is easy to compare extreme types of pleasure as in the case of pigs and

humans, but is difficult to compare pleasures deeply integrated in our way of
life