Classical Utilitarianism

The Principle of Classical Utilitarianism

An action A is morally right iff A promotes at least as much of a balance of happiness over unhappiness for the greatest number of people, considered equally, as any alternative to A.

An example of CU

Suppose Stacy is trying to decide whether to go out on a date with John or help her friend Lewis study for his calculus midterm. Suppose furthermore that Stacy has promised to help Lewis and the moral problem is whether or not she should break her promise . If she is a Classical Utilitarian, then she might reason as follows:

Of course here we are making a number of assumptions. We are assuming that no one can be at most any happier than anyone else; nor can they be any less unhappy than anyone else. Specifically, we are assuming that everyone's utility is measurable on the scale [-10,10], with the further proviso that unhappiness (negative utility) is perfectly symmetric with happiness (positive utility) such that -1 unhappiness and 1 happiness exactly balance out for a utility of 0.

Given those assumptions, it follows on CU grounds that Stacy should break her promise to help Lewis study, since that is the action that maximizes utility.

As a theory, CU has a number of important properties we do well to keep in mind as we discuss utilitarianism.

The Properties of CU

Universal

No one is excluded from possibly being included in utility calculations. Contrast this to DCT or NLT, where non-believers are automatically excluded from consideration.

Egalitarian

Everyone is weighted the same in the utility calculations. Stacy's happiness, for example, does not count any more or less than anyone else's.

Maximal

In each case, that action is right which maximizes utility.

Consequential

The utility of an action is determined by its consequences.

Eudaimonic

The sole intrinsic good is happiness. ("Eudaimon" is, roughly, Greek for "happiness".)

Act-Evaluative

Our utility-calculations only consider the consequences of actions.