Explain Benthams Utilitarianism

Explain Benthams Utiliarianism (30 marks) The supposition of utilitarianism was put forward entierly by Jeremy Bentham, who wrote astir(predicate) Ethics and Politics. He was a social reformer keen to mitigate the lives of the working class. Many of the improvements made in the treatments of criminals in the 18th and nineteenth centuries were the results of Benthems ethics. Bentham believed that which is good is that which equals the superlative sum of entertainment and the least sum of disturb. (Hedonism). We drop divide his theory into three parts His view on what herd human beings, and what goodness and pitifulness was all about. ( The motivation of human beings)The belief of utility, which is his moral ruleThe sybaritic tartar, which is his system for measuring how good or bad the consequence is.The motivation of human beingsBentham maintained that human beings were motivated by pleasure and pain, and so he can be called a hedonist. He said, in principles of morals an d legislation, nature has placed mankind underthe governance of 2 sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them al genius to point out what we ought to do, as swell as to determine what we shall do The principle of utilityOnce Bentham had established that pleasure and pain were beta qualities for determining what was moral, he developed the utility principle. The disciplineness or in waneness of an action is determined by its utility or usefulness, Usefulness refers to the amound of pleasure or happiness caused by the action hence it is a teleogical ethical theory which determines a good act by the ends it brings about. The theory is known as the superlative happiness principle, or a theory of usefulness.An action is right if it produces th greatest good for the greatest number, where the greatest good is the greatest pleasure or happiness and the least pain or sadness, and the greatest number are the majority of people. When faced with a moral dilemma, Bentham argued that one should chose an act in such a way that brings about the supreme contingent happiness for the most people. However the possible consequences of different possible actions must be measured clearly to establish which option generates he most pleasure and the least pain. To measure the results, Bentham proposed the hedonic calculus This calculus wassupposed to measure the amounts of pleasure and pain according to vii factors. The seven factors1. Intensity How intense is the pleasure or pain? 2. Duration How pertinacious does the pleasure or pain last? 3. Certainty What is the probability that the pleasure or pain will occur? 4. Propinquity or aloofness How far off in the future is the pleasure or pain? 5. Fecundity What is the probability that the pleasure will evanesce to early(a) pleasures 6. integrity What is the probability that the pain will lead to other pains 7. goal How many persons are affected by the pleasure?In the hedonic calculus. Benthem considers how str ong the pain or pleasure is, whether it is short lived or manners long and how likely it is that there will be pain or pleasure. He considers how immediate the pain or pleasure is and how likely it is to lead to more of the same, the extent to which there might be a cabal of pains and pleasures, and lastly the number of people affected. The balance of pleasures and pains is compared with those of other options and the best result determined. The action that leads to this best consequence is the morally correct one to pursue.