Bentham (1748-1832)

Mill (1806-1873)

Empirical (measure goodness a posteriori)

Hedonistic (pleasure based)

Consequentialist

Act utilitarian

Empirical (against the intuitionists)

Eudaimonistic (happiness based)

Consequentialist

Rule utilitarian

Intrinsic good – pleasure

Two sovereign masters – pain and pleasure. One intrinsic good – happiness.

Intrinsic good – happiness

Happiness was more than just pleasure, but about having goals and virtues as well as pleasure.

Quantitative pleasure

Pleasure could be calculated by the Hedonic calculus (acronym P.R.R.I.C.E.D.)

Qualitative pleasure

Pleasure needs to be defined carefully to avoid creating a “swinish philosophy” – so Mill distinguishes between higher pleasures (music, art, poetry) and lower pleasures (food, drink, sex). Higher pleasures are more valuable.

Goodness as pleasure

What makes an action good is the balance of pleasure over pain for the maximum number of people.

Goodness as happiness

What makes an action good is the balance of happiness over unhappiness which it produces.

Justice ignored

Bentham doesn’t address the issue of the rights of the minority which may be infringed by maximising pleasure of the majority (eg lynchings).

Justice addressed

Mill was concerned about rights and justice and argued that happiness could only be maximised by having certain rights guaranteed and laws or rules which promoted general happiness.

Motivation – self-interest

Bentham saw utility in narrow, individualistic terms and would agree with Margaret Thatcher’s saying– “there is no thing as society, just individuals”.

Motivation – sympathy

Mill argued that we have a general sympathy for other human beings which gave us the motivation to seek the general good, not just our own.

Criticisms of Bentham

Assumes pleasure is the only good (what of duty, sacrifice etc?)

Assumes pleasure and happiness are identical (they’re not – think of an athlete in training)

Believes we can calculate pleasure empirically (we can’t)

Ignores problems of injustices which utilitarianism produces (see Bernard Williams’ critique)

Criticisms of Mill

Assumes happiness is the only good (what of virtue?)

Assumes higher pleasures are more desired than lower pleasures

Makes the difficulty of calculation even more problematic by this higher/lower distinction

Rule utilitarianism collapses into act utilitarianism when we face moral dilemmas