Mill Revised - SAM BLACK PHIL 120 Utilitarianism I...

SAM BLACK, PHIL. 120: Utilitarianism
I. Definition Utilitarianism:
An act, rule or principle is right , if it promotes the greatest
good for the greatest number of persons (or perhaps sentient
beings).
Lectures on Utilitarianism are divided into two topics:
1) Theories of intrinsic value or the “good for a person” that
figures in the “greatest good for the greatest number”
forumula (2 lectures: 1 overview of theories of a person’s
good and 1 in-depth discussion of Mill’s theory of a
person’s good).
2) Theories of the right that define “right action” as the
actions that cause the greatest good for the greatest
number (2 lectures).
II. A Quick Overview of Different Conceptions of
Happiness, the Good Life, or “Intrinsic Value” (Values are
instrinsic if they are valuable for their own sake, rather
than being valuable in virtue of being a means to
something else)
These theories provide different account of the “good for a
person” that could be slotted into the utilitarian formula: promote
the greatest good for the greatest number (the utility calculus).
We will pinpoint the location of Mill’s theory of ‘higher pleasures’.
Desire (or preference) satisfaction theories of a
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person’s good
Def : A person is happy the greater the quantity of satisfied
desires they have.
‘Actual’ desire theories specify that the relevant satisfied
desires are the wants a person actually has at any given time.
Examples: Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes: “whatsoever a man desireth it is that which he calleth
good”.
The Case for Desire Theories of Good:
If a person is asked, ‘What should other people do if they want
to help you?’ they often answer, ‘Help me to get what I want!”.
Some problems for desire theories of the good:
i) Misinformed desires:
Ex: Imagine your last partner (the creep). Does your life go
better in virtue of having satisfied your desire to date him or
her?
Desire theorists may reply that the desires that serve as the
measure of good must be informed desires rather than a
person’s actual desires.
ii) Time-Sensitive Desires: I have very intense desires at 5
years old for me to spend the rest of my life watching
Sesame Street and marrying the girl next door. Would I
really be better off over the course of my life if other
people tried to ensure that those “now for then” desires
were satisfied? (It is possible that the “now for then”
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desires are more intense than my “now for now” desires.)
a. The stipulation that the desires in question be ‘informed
desires’ may fail to resolve the problem. Even if I learned at 5
years old that my desires would change as I grew older I may still
desires now for my ‘older self’ that he watch lots of TV and live in
the same house as his parents, and marry the girl next door.