Bentham's Version Of Utilitarianism Does Not Work
“Bentham’s version of Utilitarianism does not work.” How far do you agree?
I strongly agree with the fore mentioned statement. There are strengths and weaknesses to Bentham’s version of utilitarianism, however I believe that the weaknesses outweigh the strengths and that eventually it can be concluded that his theory does not work.
Bentham follows the principle of utility; this is the ‘greatest good for the greatest number’. In many situations this can be applied and used effectively, however Bentham does not specify what exactly the term ‘good’ entails and whether it is solely the please and individual receives or the happiness it brings them. It is very much open for interpretation, and can be interpreted in different ways by different …show more content…
This is good as it means all aspects of the situation are considered before a direct solution is given and does not have one set of rules that everyone must abide to no matter what the given circumstances may be. This can be applied to the example of robbing a chemist to save a sick child’s life. As a general rule you should never steal, however if it is done to save the life of a sick child, who’s whole family will suffer a great deal, stealing from the chemist would bring the most amount of pleasure to the most amount of people and therefore according to Bentham would be the morally acceptable thing to do. This is because it causes more pleasure to more people than it does the amount of pain. It will bring a large amount of pleasure to the child that is saved and his family, compared to the smaller amount of pain caused to the chemist that shop is broken …show more content…
The hedonic calculus is a device Bentham used that consists of seven factors to be considered before making any moral decision. The seven factors are the purity, remoteness, richness, intensity, certainty, extent and duration of the pain/pleasure the situation could cause. On the surface this seems like a reasonable way to weigh up a moral situation, however there are flaws to this. You may not have all the required information needed to make a justified decision. For example you cannot be certain that any decision is going to result in pleasure or pain, to the sheer fact that consequences cannot be predicted, they are unknown. Therefore this is a factor that cannot be relied upon when using the hedonic calculus to effect. This is again shows us that Bentham’s theory of Utilitarianism does not
I strongly agree with the fore mentioned statement. There are strengths and weaknesses to Bentham’s version of utilitarianism, however I believe that the weaknesses outweigh the strengths and that eventually it can be concluded that his theory does not work.
Bentham follows the principle of utility; this is the ‘greatest good for the greatest number’. In many situations this can be applied and used effectively, however Bentham does not specify what exactly the term ‘good’ entails and whether it is solely the please and individual receives or the happiness it brings them. It is very much open for interpretation, and can be interpreted in different ways by different …show more content…
This is good as it means all aspects of the situation are considered before a direct solution is given and does not have one set of rules that everyone must abide to no matter what the given circumstances may be. This can be applied to the example of robbing a chemist to save a sick child’s life. As a general rule you should never steal, however if it is done to save the life of a sick child, who’s whole family will suffer a great deal, stealing from the chemist would bring the most amount of pleasure to the most amount of people and therefore according to Bentham would be the morally acceptable thing to do. This is because it causes more pleasure to more people than it does the amount of pain. It will bring a large amount of pleasure to the child that is saved and his family, compared to the smaller amount of pain caused to the chemist that shop is broken …show more content…
The hedonic calculus is a device Bentham used that consists of seven factors to be considered before making any moral decision. The seven factors are the purity, remoteness, richness, intensity, certainty, extent and duration of the pain/pleasure the situation could cause. On the surface this seems like a reasonable way to weigh up a moral situation, however there are flaws to this. You may not have all the required information needed to make a justified decision. For example you cannot be certain that any decision is going to result in pleasure or pain, to the sheer fact that consequences cannot be predicted, they are unknown. Therefore this is a factor that cannot be relied upon when using the hedonic calculus to effect. This is again shows us that Bentham’s theory of Utilitarianism does not