1. Social Ethics Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill

2. Jeremy Bentham (1748 - 1832) Born in London, received his B.A. at 15 and his M.A. at 18 Spent early years as an author influencing government policy in order to advance social reform Godfather of J.S. Mill, our next philosopher and ethicist

4. The Principle of Utility Utility: the usefulness of something - that which increases benefit, advantage, pleasure, happiness, and goodness Since everyone seeks these, any act or choice which increases utility for the greatest possible number of people is the right choice

5. Sanctions A sanction is a source of pleasure or pain - these give value to action, and cause our behavior - we seek pleasure, and avoid pain, so act accordingly There are 4 types of sanctions: physical, moral, religious, and political

6. Physical & Moral Sanctions Physical sanctions have to do with the laws of nature: jump off of a 10-story building and experience a physical sanction when you land Moral sanctions bind us to public opinion: we treat our friends justly if we want to keep them

7. Religious & Political Sanctions Religious sanctions are those which make infinite promises: heaven and hell, for example Political sanctions are those which pertain to laws: break the law, get thrown in jail

8. Law & Punishment Bentham had issues with retributive justice: the legal system basically taking revenge on offenders From a utilitarian perspective, this only increases pain and decreases joy Punishment should appeal to offender responsibility, and ultimately increase utility

9. Consequentialism Utilitarianism is thus depicted as a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome—the ends must justify the means An example would be going to war in order to create peace – this does not make sense in Bentham’s system.

10. John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) By age 8 was reading Plato and other Greek philosophers in their original language Elected to Parliament in 1865, wrote On The Subjection of Women, an early defense of feminism

12. Utilitarianism, advanced Mill agreed w/ Utilitarianism, but unlike Bentham (focused on the quantity of happiness), Mill was concerned with the quality of happiness Mill believed that the higher human mental pleasures of humanity outweighed our lower animalistic bodily pleasures

13. Higher Pleasures These are defined by 3 things: Duration: mental pleasures last longer Safety: satisfying the mind is easier and safer than satisfying the body Cost: usually, satisfying only the base pleasures has a more significant cost

14. Greatest Happiness Principle For Mill, attaining the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people is crucial Personal sacrifice in the interests of the common good may sometimes be required

15. Reducing Human Misery Mill thought that many of the world’s evils which caused unhappiness could be eradicated, including: Poverty Disease War

16. Feeling For Humanity Ultimately Mill saw the idea of greatest happiness as internal to our humanity: because we understand what makes sense for ourselves, it is unthinkable to suggest that we don’t have the same responsibility to others