Bentham held that all pleasure was equal (i.e. The pleasure one gets from watching Jackass 2 is equivalent to the pleasure one gets from Shakespeare or from La Traviata). Mill held that the quality of the pleasure mattered and that intellectual pleasures that engage the mind are superior to physical pleasures.

Mill also held that while all sentient beings count morally, human life is qualitatively superior than animal life (probably because only humans are rational) and therefore humans count more than non-humans.

Act-Rule Utilitarianism

• Bentham and most early utilitarians were ACT utilitarians – Each act is judged on its own moral merits.

• Some later utilitarians became RULE utilitarians actions were actions taken in general are evaluated morally  i.e. lying or cheating as a general practice does not promote happiness.

Morality is not a matter of pleasing God, nor a matter of adhering to abstract rules-
It is simply a matter of bringing about the greatest amount of happiness.

For Utilitarians, morality is a practical and not a theoretical or spiritual enterprise.

Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as determine what we shall do.

Bentham’s Utilitarian Calculus

In making moral decisions one must consider:

• The Intensity of the pain or pleasure.  The greater the intensity the higher positive value we assign to the act. The greater the intensity of the pain the greater negative value we assign.
• The Duration of the pain or pleasure. The longer pain or pleasure lasts the more negative or positive value is assigned.
• The Certainty of the pain or pleasure. Things that are likely to occur are assigned higher values than things that are unlikely.
• The Fecundity of the act. An act that produces further goods is better than one that produces a single good.
• The Purity of the pleasure. Happiness without suffering is preferred.
• The Extent of the pleasure. The number of people that benefit or are harmed matters.
• The Propinquity of the act. Nearness in time matters. Immediate pleasures or immediate pain is assigned a higher value.

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