StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Benthams utilitarian principle - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
At present, Bentham’s (1781) utilitarian principle is considered as the most appropriate and the most modern among other ethical principles in the society. He regards pain and pleasure as the “sovereign masters” that control the world…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.2% of users find it useful
Benthams utilitarian principle
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Benthams utilitarian principle"

? Utilitarianism How an individual behaves is oftentimes dictated by the society he or she is a part of. Anything that is acceptable to the society is what everyone thought of therefore, to be ethical. Several ethical principles have been associated to its proponents in the past. Based on these theories, societies, along with its member, behaves according to what they thought is applicable and appropriate. Happiness and pleasure against sorrow and pain controls every individual, thus behave according to the amount these opposing nature with the risk of the consequences that their action entails. This utilitarianism principle is what is thought to have governed the world as proposed by Jeremy Bentham. At present, Bentham’s (1781) utilitarian principle is considered as the most appropriate and the most modern among other ethical principles in the society. He regards pain and pleasure as the “sovereign masters” that control the world. Everyone’s action follows the principle of utility as each person may or may not identify one’s act as one that conforms to the society or not. Experiencing pain and pleasure allows humans to identify the things that they ought to do as well as what they shall do. Being able to identify the actions that are appropriate in the society allows individuals to identify what is right or moral. Furthermore, such actions that are seen to be good and beneficial to a large number of people in the community are then considered to be morally acceptable. On the other hand, when an action is seen to inflict pain and is not pleasing to a majority, it is therefore disapproved and regarded as an immoral act. This idea applies to actions that are considered to be “for the greater good.” The idea of conduct that brings about happiness to a greater number of people is called by others as the “universal hedonism” (Sidgwick, n.d.). Each individual desires happiness. An individual who seeks happiness therefore perform actions that would eventually bring him or her greater amounts of pleasure. As the individual deviates from experiencing pain, he or she should consequently take into consideration whether the actions would bring about unhappiness or pain to others. Otherwise, the actions that the person may be taking may be seen as unacceptable, thus it will be disapproved by the majority. Any conduct that that affects a greater number of people in the society should not be implemented and considered unjust. In a given circumstance though, where the conduct affects a small number of people negatively, the community should assume the responsibility of its adverse effects. (role of the government) Right is then associated by the feelings of pleasure, while wrong is associated with pain. These two sensations that every member of the society feels can be quantified, therefore, pleasure in its great amount is deemed best for humanity. Greater pain, on the other hand, is unacceptable in the society, and thus regarded as a violation of the laws set by man and the system that is implementing them. On the other hand, motives play an important role in identifying what is thought to be right and wrong for the community. The principle that is adverse of utility introduces the ideas of asceticism, and sympathy and apathy. Such instances when even an action that offers the least amount of happiness or pleasure may be approved by the community. This inverse utilitarian principle recognizes the value of the action even when it does not provide a greater amount of happiness on the condition that it is advantageous for a greater number of people. As Bentham (1781) pointed out, the difference in motives between hope and fear draws down to the same principle that is associated to asceticism. While hope may elicit anticipation for something that is good in the future, fear inhibits a person to do something immoral in order to avoid punishment in the future. Both feelings fall down to preventing the members of the society, no matter which group they belong to, from performing conducts that elicits pain or unhappiness. The principle on sympathy and antipathy is significant in identifying what is morally acceptable and unacceptable in the society. Nevertheless, this principle is not deemed appropriate to be used as a system in the government as it does not seek any further for its judgment is invalid since it is based solely on the person’s subjective discernment. In effect, the degree of punishment is identified by how much the individual thought is appropriate for the conduct he or she has determined to be a non-conformity to the society, as well as to his or her beliefs. It is also considered invalid for it does not require a reason to justify the act aside from the personal sentiments of the individual disapproving the conduct. Greatness and mediocrity of pain and pleasure can be measured according to Bentham (1781). In order to quantify them, they may be measured according to intensity, duration, certainty or uncertainty, and propinquity or remoteness. Intensity may be assigned a value according to how strong the pain or pleasure the individual feels. The length of time that the pain or pleasure is felt is measured by duration, while certainty measures how definite they are. Propinquity is measured according to the immediacy of these two controlling nature of humans. He also added fecundity and purity to help quantify the value of pain and pleasure, particularly in its ability to attract similar or opposite circumstances. Fecundity is measure how many more actions that would bring similar pleasures or pains would the action entail. Purity on the other hand measures the chances that the action may entail n opposite sensation (Zunjic, n.d.). Furthermore, the number of individuals affected by these sensations is also measured through what he identifies as extent. Bentham (1781) identified pains and pleasure as either simple or complex. Simple pleasures are those that man cannot tolerate. These simple pleasures include the pleasures of sense, wealth, skill, amity, good name, power, piety, benevolence, malevolence, memory, imagination, expectation, dependent on association, and relief. Equally, simple pains are also made up of the same kinds, except for relief. Pain and pleasure may also result from the physical, political, moral and religious sanctions. Punishment and reward is an essential part of utilitarianism in order to promote individual happiness, as well as the happiness of the society. The government plays an important role in upholding happiness in the community in order to secure the every member of the community to be free from pain. The degree of punishment and reward then depends on the extent of pain and pleasure that the act resulted into. Actions always cause a consequence, good or bad. Based on the consequences of the act, a person’s intention of doing such may be judged according to the results of the action as willed by the person, or the understanding of the consequences or circumstances that comes along with it yet ignoring them. Relative to this situation, Bentham (1781) identified three different types of consciousness – consciousness, unconsciousness, and false consciousness. Consciousness is when the person is aware of the circumstances of his actions before he or she performs them. When a person is not aware of such consequences that entail his actions before he acted it out, it is therefore identified as unconsciousness. Conversely, when a conscious person falsely believes the impossible consequences of his actions, this is considered false consciousness. Therefore, when invoking punishment, consciousness should be considered, along with the act itself, the circumstances in which it is done, and the intentionality that may have accompanied it. Motives or intentions of doing such acts must be identified and examined for the tendency for the act to be punished depends as well on the reason that resulted to formulating such motive and the personal state at which that reason resulted to. An action may be considered either intentional or unintentional. Actions may be intentional without the consequences. Equally, consequences may be a result of an act is unintentional. Works Cited: Zunjic, Bob. An Introduction to the Principles and Morals of Legislation (1789) An Outline. No Date. Web. 5 June 2013. _________. Online Guide to Ethics and Moral Philosophy. No Date. Web. 5 June 2013 Bentham, Jeremy. An Introduction to the Principles and Morals of Legislation. 1781. Web. 5 June 2013 Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Benthams utilitarian principle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Benthams utilitarian principle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1479654-benthams-utilitarian-principle
(Benthams Utilitarian Principle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
Benthams Utilitarian Principle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1479654-benthams-utilitarian-principle.
“Benthams Utilitarian Principle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1479654-benthams-utilitarian-principle.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Benthams utilitarian principle

Jeremy Bentham: The Jurist and Elder Statesman of English Philosophy

Although Bentham was notable in his own right, perhaps his greatest contribution to philosophy was his influence upon John Stewart Mill, the famous ethicist who would go on to develop and formalize the utilitarian ethical philosophy, launching it into the world's attention and thereby facilitating its application to common thought and law....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Utilitarianism Is Not So Much a Political Philosophy

hellip; One can only perceive that the best utilitarianism to favor, from a political standpoint, is the Rule utilitarian since it proposes that a person thinks before acting and if the outcome is most probably going to be positive then they decide it is good to follow.... The paper "Utilitarianism Is Not So Much a Political Philosophy" describes that most political philosophies are promising, in the sense that they apply for the greater good of everyone and it is in very few instances where the consequences act as attributes of the deed....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Values and Society - Utilitarianism

rdquo; Bentham (1789) in talking about the principle of “the greatest happiness” admits it has flaws.... Quoting Alexander Wedderburn, Bentham writes, “This principle [the greater happiness principle] is a dangerous one” (Note 1; p.... He still believes it is a good philosophy, however, and he argues for the principle and that in the end will prove a very beneficial idea to man when all is said and done: “that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question” (Bentham, 1789: 2)The theory calls an action right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it tends to produce the opposite of happiness—not just the happiness of the person who performs the action but also the happiness of everyone affected by it....
6 Pages (1500 words) Literature review

The Reformulation Benthams Theory of Utilitarianism

This paper ''The Reformulation Bentham's Theory of Utilitarianism'' tells that Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) are the two historical figures most closely associated with the philosophy of Utilitarianism, which seeks to ground moral reasoning in a calculation of utility....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

The General Principles of Utilitarianism

This paper stresses that the 18th-century social life in England was extremely different from that of the current century.... English law was more polarized towards the upper class during that period.... It was difficult for the poor people to seek the assistance of law and order or criminal justice system....
7 Pages (1750 words) Assignment

Utilitarianism Approach to Normative Ethics

"Utilitarianism Approach to Normative Ethics" paper focuses on this concept that emerged from the struggle of English philosophers to liberate the ethical discourse from traditional appeals to authority than reason.... They took to justifying ethical decisions not by appealing the crown or throne....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Hedonism and Benthams Principle of Utility and Theories

There are different ways to evaluate an act from a utilitarian perspective....    … Resolutely, utilitarianism is one of the consequentialists' ethical theories used to judge actions according to their anticipated results, hence making it partially a teleological theory; moreover, utilitarians evaluate acts by means of the utilitarian principles that link the rightness and wrongness of acts to the balance of positive utility over negative utility....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Strengths and Weaknesses of Benthams Utilitarianism

It is based on this principle that there are ethics or moral philosophies.... A typical example of this can be seen in utilitarian bioethics wherein a state of limited resources, nurses are first expected to give care to patients whose future productive value and happiness are quantified as higher (Birnbacher, 2003).... The essay "Strengths and Weaknesses of benthams Utilitarianism" focuses on the critical analysis and evaluation of the main strengths and weaknesses in the Utilitarianism theory by J....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us