Utilitarianism: What The Heck is It?

The two most prominent purveyors of the Utilitarian theory were John Stewart Mill and Jeremy Bentham. Jeremy Bentham stated that the Utilitarian theory is based on the notion; “The greatest happiness of the greatest number”. Therefore an action should be considered good if it makes the overall majority of people happy. However what determines happiness? This is one of the areas of the Utilitarian theory that has been constantly probed over the years by other great philosophical thinkers. The Utilitarian theory is one that advocates hedonism, it implies that we as human beings are hedonistic, meaning that our sole purpose in life is to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Jeremy Bentham puts forward the notion that we as human beings seek the highest good, to put it another way “summum bonum” which is Latin for the highest good.

The theory of Utilitarianism is far from being new however; as it actually has roots in Aristotle, St Thomas Aquinas also expanded on the theory stating that all human action is directed towards summum bonum meaning that everything we do is or should be directed towards the highest good and nothing else, this is also considered to be the highest good.

So, let us look at an example, Capital Punishment, this is a form of punishment that has been eradicated in most countries. So using the basis of the theory of Utilitarianism, is Capital Punishment ethical? Well, if the mainstay of the theory is that we as human beings seek the highest good, and that the morality of an action should be determined by it’s outcome; “The greatest happiness of the greatest number” is Capital Punishment a good thing? If a man kills another man and the decision is taken in a court of law that that the man should be executed as a punishment for his actions, are the greatest number of people going to be happy as a result of this action? In theory one man dies thus creating a safer environment for thousands of people. This should mean that the action of executing the man should be considered good? In terms of Utilitarianism Capital Punishment should be considered a moral action, however how about if we look at it from a Christian standpoint, yes it does state in the Ten Commandments that “Thou Shalt Not Kill” However; two wrongs do not make a right and did Jesus not teach us to turn the other cheek? This basically means to refrain from retaliation. The theory of Utilitarianism and the argument for morality pertaining to Capital Punishment has always been a complicated fellowship. Generally ethical questions such as these do not have a definite answer so to speak, just opinions. Therefore allow me to offer mine. I am not a believer of the so called deterrent that is Capital Punishment, I don’t think it punishes that person for killing another, or committing a grave crime against another. All it does is, destroy another family, when it comes to punishment a lifetime of incarceration should be the best option, not killing. In most countries such as the United States, a life sentence is basically 25 years, which does not equate to life. A life sentence should be exactly that, a life sentence without the possibility of parole. There are a myriad of problems when it comes to Capital Punishment and one of them is that; an innocent person could executed.