PART2 L1

Utilitarianism Foundations
📌 Utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory under the consequentialist umbrella, where the morality of an action is determined solely by its outcomes.
⚖️ The core principle is to maximize pleasure and happiness while minimizing pain and unhappiness for all involved stakeholders.
🧠 Jeremy Bentham introduced the felicific calculus, a quantitative approach to measuring pleasure based on intensity, duration, certainty, and extent of the impact.

Higher vs. Lower Pleasures
🎓 John Stuart Mill distinguished between lower-level physical pleasures (shared with animals) and higher intellectual pleasures (unique to humans, such as creativity, purpose, and social belonging).
🌟 Mill argued that it is preferable to be a dissatisfied human than a fully satisfied lower animal, emphasizing the value of cognitive growth and intellectual satisfaction.

The Principle of the Greatest Number
👥 Ethical actions must consider the greatest number of people, rejecting self-centered decision-making in favor of the collective well-being.
⚖️ Act Utilitarianism focuses on the immediate consequences of a specific action, while Rule Utilitarianism evaluates actions based on established moral rules derived from long-term human experience.
🚫 Individual rights are viewed as instruments for achieving social happiness; they are not absolute and may be bypassed if it serves the greater good of the population.

Global and Environmental Applications
🌍 Policies and actions must transcend national borders, requiring consideration for how domestic decisions impact the global community.
🐾 Utilitarianism extends moral concern to non-human animals and the ecosystem, as these entities also experience pleasure and pain; harming the environment inevitably leads to suffering for all dependent life.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ The End Justifies the Means: The primary objective of any moral action is to ensure the net increase of happiness across society.
➡️ Universal Responsibility: Moral agents must calculate the effects of their choices on everyone affected, not just themselves or their local community.
➡️ Systemic Ethics: Utilitarianism encourages a holistic view of policy-making where the health of the planet and the welfare of all sentient beings are integrated into the definition of a "good" outcome.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Apr 05, 2026, 03:48 UTC