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Bentham’s Utility Calculus

Bentham’s Utility Calculus. Presented by Seth L. Blumberg ENG 3060 §003 Spring/Summer 2009. A universal ethical recipe. The utility calculus (a.k.a. felicific calculus) claims to be a universal recipe for determining the right thing to do in any situation.

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Bentham’s Utility Calculus

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  1. Bentham’sUtility Calculus Presented by Seth L. Blumberg ENG 3060 §003 Spring/Summer 2009

  2. A universal ethical recipe • The utility calculus (a.k.a. felicific calculus) claims to be a universal recipe for determining the right thing to do in any situation. • It takes the form of a quasi-mathematical algorithm, with variables to which no actual numbers can be assigned. • Utility = f (Intensity, Duration, Certainty, Nearness, Fecundity, Purity, Extent)

  3. Jeremy Bentham • Late 18th/early 19th Century English philosopher • Wrote about philosophy of law and government • One of the founders of Utilitarianism • Invented the utility calculus Source: Wikimedia Commons, painting by William Henry Pickersgill (National Portrait Gallery, London UK)

  4. Utilitarianism • Ethical system based solely on consequences of actions • “Greatest good for the greatest number” • Utility = total good or evil tendency of an action • Bentham identified good with pleasure, evil with pain

  5. The utility equation U = ∑i ∑j (Iij + Dij + Cij + Nij + Fij + Pij) • Sum over all people (the i’s) — extent • Sum over all kinds of pleasure/pain (the j’s) • Six variables for each kind of pleasure or pain: IntensityNearness(propinquity) DurationFecundity CertaintyPurity • Positive for pleasure, negative for pain

  6. Using the calculus • No guidance on assigning exact numbers • Must anticipate every result of every act • “It is not to be expected that this process should be strictly pursued previously to every moral judgment…. It may, however, be always kept in view”(Bentham 1823, p. 31)

  7. Incommensurability • “[T]he basic human goods are all equally and irreducibly basic; none of them is subordinated as mere means to any of the others…. • “[T]he basic human goods are not abstract entities but aspects of the being of persons each of whom is distinct from and no mere means to the well-being of any other person.”(Finnis 1984, p. 89)

  8. Questions?

  9. References Bentham, J. (1823). An introduction to the principles of morals and legislation. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Finnis, J. (1984). Fundamentals of ethics. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Pickersgill, H. W. (n. d.) Jeremy Bentham, painting. Retrieved June 9, 2009 from Wikimedia Commons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jeremy_Bentham_by_Henry_William_Pickersgill_detail.jpg

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