Rights, Duties, and Utilitarianism

Paul C. Godfrey

Marriott School of Management

Brigham Young University

The fundamental questions:

What is good?

How do I choose what is good?

Rights and duties

• Immanuel Kant (1724—1804)• Actions that are good/right follow two categorical

imperatives:• Universality—acts that could be a universal rule• Respect—treat others as ends in themselves and not

merely as means• The categorical imperative allows the formation of moral

maxims, or moral rules that can then be used to guide action.

Rights and Duties

Pros• Universality or ultimate

principles• Focuses on motivations• Focuses on constraints to

action

Cons• Rules or maxims can be

rigid• There are limits and

exceptions to rules• Doesn’t focus on

outcomes

Two Doctrines

Doctrine of Right Doctrine of Virtue

Acting Rightly Acting for the right reasons

Public Morality Private Morality

Focus on Action Focus on Motive

Defines the role of the state Defines the role of individual character

Utilitarianism

• John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)• “The greatest good for the greatest number”• The 2 criterion of the principle of utility• Utility—Maximize welfare in some way• Impartiality—without the concern for the welfare of the

decision maker

Two types

• Act Utilitarianism—Utility calculations for every action or decision, one-off morality)

• Rule Utilitarianism—Adopting rules which in most cases will lead to the greatest good for the greatest number

Utilitarianism

Pros• The focus on consequences• Utilitarianism seeks to be

empirical• A clear decision rule, similar

to NPV. • Strong intuitive appeal about

some people being disadvantaged for the good of the whole.

Cons• Determining all affected

parties the long term consequences difficult. often devolves to short term, directly affected parties.

• Utility is subjectively determined,

• Personal Utility is often substituted for Social Utility

• It can be a slippery slope to hedonism and selfishness

• discounts motivation: How important are motivations to you in assessing the moral worth of actions?

Transcendence and synthesis

• The work of Thomas Acuqinas (c. 1225-1274)• Considered the greatest of the catholic “Doctors of the

Church”• Combined medieval belief with modern sensibility• Teleology—everything leads to the end for which God

ordained it

Four keys to ethical action

An act is good if it conforms to all four of the following:

• A good genus (intention, desire)

• A good species (object or goal)

• Good “accidents” (immediate outcomes)

• Good “ends” (long term or teleological outcomes)

Why I like St. Thomas

• Recognizes the value of Kant’s contribution (intentions, goals)

• Recognizes the value of outcomes and utilitarian considerations

• Sets ethical decisions within a larger context (the will of God and His purposes)

• Denies tradeoffs between ethical positions and seeks for optimal solutions