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Utilitarianism - Session 1 Objectives

First of two sessions on Utilitarianism.

I aim to get participants to an understanding of the key features of utilitarianism in the context provided by the other theories we have studied in the module. The key features I want to get across are:

1. It says Maximise pleasure.

2. It construes happiness as pleasure. So it says Maximise happiness.

3. It gives a reason why you should maximise happiness - the reason being that happiness is the one thing that is desirable in itself.

4. The thesis that happiness is the one thing that is desirable in itself is argued for by Mill. His argument is that happiness is in fact the one thing that everybody desires.

5. In getting an understanding of the theory they will be evaluating it. (You only understand an argument when you feel a logical tug from it. If you don't feel any tug - can't show that it exerts a logical tug - either you haven't understood it properly or it isn't an argument at all…)

6. There is a difference between "maximise your pleasure" and maximise the sum of pleasure across everybody.