Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 56 views

    Utilitarianism and Hedonism

    Uploaded by

    Moon Moon
    Utilitarianism is a philosophical view that defines morality based on consequences, where actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong if they cause unhappiness. Two key proponents were Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, who argued people should act to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Bentham believed pleasures and pains differ only in quantity, while Mill believed they differ in quality. Mill also recognized internal sanctions, whereas Bentham only recognized external ones. Hedonism states that morally best actions maximize happiness and minimize pain, and Utilitarianism builds upon this hedonistic theory of value to form a system of ethics.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Utilitarianism and Hedonism

    Uploaded by

    Moon Moon
    56 views2 pages
    Utilitarianism is a philosophical view that defines morality based on consequences, where actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong if they cause unhappiness. Two key proponents were Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, who argued people should act to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Bentham believed pleasures and pains differ only in quantity, while Mill believed they differ in quality. Mill also recognized internal sanctions, whereas Bentham only recognized external ones. Hedonism states that morally best actions maximize happiness and minimize pain, and Utilitarianism builds upon this hedonistic theory of value to form a system of ethics.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Utilitarianism is a philosophical view that defines morality based on consequences, where actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong if they cause unhappiness. Two key proponents were Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, who argued people should act to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Bentham believed pleasures and pains differ only in quantity, while Mill believed they differ in quality. Mill also recognized internal sanctions, whereas Bentham only recognized external ones. Hedonism states that morally best actions maximize happiness and minimize pain, and Utilitarianism builds upon this hedonistic theory of value to form a system of ethics.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    56 views2 pages

    Utilitarianism and Hedonism

    Uploaded by

    Moon Moon
    Utilitarianism is a philosophical view that defines morality based on consequences, where actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong if they cause unhappiness. Two key proponents were Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, who argued people should act to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Bentham believed pleasures and pains differ only in quantity, while Mill believed they differ in quality. Mill also recognized internal sanctions, whereas Bentham only recognized external ones. Hedonism states that morally best actions maximize happiness and minimize pain, and Utilitarianism builds upon this hedonistic theory of value to form a system of ethics.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Utilitarianism and Hedonism

    Utilitarianism, in normative ethics, is a philosophical view that defines the morality


    of an action based on its consequences. In other words, an action (or type of action) is
    right if it tends to promote happiness or pleasure and wrong if it tends to produce
    unhappiness or pain—not just for the performer of the action but also for everyone else
    affected by it. One great example of this is the idea of democracy, wherein the one who
    gets the majority of the votes will be elected. There are two prominent figures in
    Utilitarianism which are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.

    Utilitarianism is an effort to provide an answer to the practical question “What ought


    a person to do?” For Bentham and Mill, the answer is that a person ought to act so as to
    maximize happiness or pleasure and to minimize unhappiness or pain. But despite the
    similarities in the ideology, both still have different views. The main difference is that
    Bentham advocated that the pleasures and the pains differ in quantity and not in quality.
    He said that pains and pleasures can be computed mathematically. But Mill said that pain
    and pleasure can't be measured arithmetically they differ in quality only. Moreover,
    Bentham recognized only external sanctions but Mill recognized not only external, but
    internal sanctions also which would constrain the individual to promote general
    happiness, because every individual possesses a feeling for the happiness of mankind.
    Bentham's principle of utility, in a society of wolves, would exalt wolfishness; in a society
    of saint it would exalt saintliness. But according to Mill saintliness should be the criterion
    of utility in any society whatsoever. Additionally, Bentham utilitarianism supports the
    greatest good of the greatest number. But here there is a chance for suppression of
    minorities' rights, and so, Mill supported individualism. Bentham supported democratic
    government in any condition but Mill supported monarchy for primitive man and
    democratic government for people who are able to understand value of democratic
    government. It means Mill supported democracy based on condition of man.

    Hedonism in ethics, a general term for all theories of conduct in which the criterion
    is pleasure of one kind or another. The word is derived from the Greek “hedone” meaning
    pleasure, and from “hedys” which means sweet or pleasant. By definition, it is clear that
    Hedonism and Utilitarianism have similar views on morality. The moral theory of
    utilitarianism specifies what makes an action morally correct. Right actions are those that
    achieve greatest happiness for greatest number. Similarly, hedonistic utilitarianism states
    that the morally best action is the one that maximizes happiness and minimizes pain. The
    main difference between the two is that Utilitarianism which is an ethical theory is founded
    on the theory of value which is hedonism. Utilitarianism builds upon this to produce a
    system of ethics rather than just saying that all value equates to happiness of some kind.
    Lastly, since hedonism is a value theory it is more concerned on theoretical questions
    about value and goodness of all varieties, questions that often cross the boundaries
    between normative ethics and the metaethical rather than providing a clear guidance of
    what is wrong or right (ethical theory) like Utilitarianism.

    References:

    West, H. R. and Duignan, . Brian (2022, October 19). utilitarianism. Encyclopedia


    Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/utilitarianism-philosophy

    Anuradha, K. (n.d.). A brief notes on Utilitarianism: A study on Bentham and J.S.Mill


    views. Legal Service India E-Journal.
    https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-3093-a-brief-notes-on-
    utilitarianism-a-study-on-bentham-and-j-s-mill-
    views.html#:~:text=The%20main%20differences%20between%20Bentham,they
    %20differ%20in%20quality%20only.

    Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2018, April 6). hedonism. Encyclopedia


    Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/hedonism

    You might also like