Utilitarianism

An ethical, legal, and political position that seeks the purpose and obligation of an action, and the standard of right and wrong, to be "the greatest happiness of the greatest number" of members of society. This idea is prominent in British thought, and this tendency was already seen in F. Bacon, the founder of classical empiricism. Similar tendencies can also be seen in Locke, Hume, the classical economic school, theologians, and a group of moral thinkers of the 17th and 18th centuries such as R. Cumberland and F. Hutcheson. In particular, Hutcheson uses a phrase almost identical to "the greatest happiness of the greatest number."

However, it was J. Bentham who formulated and organized this position in a simple and clear way, and it was inherited and developed by Mill and his son. They equated happiness with pleasure, but while Bentham advocated "quantitative hedonism" that advocated the measurability of pleasure using seven standards and the concept of hedonic calculation, J.S. Mill recognized the qualitative difference in pleasure and switched to "qualitative hedonism." Furthermore, while Bentham valued external punishment, Mill also recognized the importance of internal motivation, conscience, and self-cultivation, and showed an inclination toward morality of heart and the theory of perfection. Radicals of their time also showed a tendency toward utilitarianism, but later there were the evolutionary utilitarianism of Spencer and Stephen, the ethics of Sidgwick, and the unique aesthetic utilitarianism of G.E. Moore. Furthermore, various variations of this theory can be seen in the implicit normative consciousness of meta-ethics in contemporary British ordinary language thought and in Anglo-American moral thought more broadly.

For example, the following points can be pointed out as inherent problems in utilitarianism:

(1) Since the goal is the happiness of the greatest number, utilitarianism, as a form of teleology, faces the problems of teleology in general. Anti-teleological positions such as deontology argue that the basis for, for example, fulfilling a promise is not simply based on its effect on the happiness of the whole society, but on other principles such as justice, social fairness, and equal consideration for each member.

(2) Even if the achievement of a utilitarian purpose is a duty, the purpose must be good ethically, so the principle of the duty to do beneficence is expected to be at the root of the principle of utility. Moreover, Bentham and Mill and his son equated good with happiness and happiness with pleasure, but this is not necessary, and various contents of good can be considered in both theory and reality.

(3) As is clear from the contrast between quantitative and qualitative hedonism, the vagueness of the standards for evaluating goals makes the foundations of hedonistic utilitarianism unstable, and the standard of quantitative measurement alone risks subordinating utilitarianism to extra-moral values ​​such as economic values.

[Takahide Toshita]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

行為の目的、行為の義務、正邪の基準を、社会の成員の「最大多数の最大幸福」に求める倫理、法、政治上の立場。イギリス思想に著しい考えで、古典経験論の創始者F・ベーコンにもすでにその傾向はみられる。また、ロック、ヒューム、古典経済学派、神学者たち、R・カンバーランドやF・ハチソンらのような17、18世紀の一群の道徳思想家などについても同様の傾向がみられる。とくにハチソンには「最大多数の最大幸福」とほぼ同じ句がみられる。

　しかし、この立場を単純明快に定式化、組織化したのはJ・ベンサムで、それはミル父子により継承、発展させられた。彼らは幸福と快楽を同一視したが、ベンサムが七つの基準による快楽の計量可能性と快楽計算の構想を唱える「量的快楽主義」を主張したのに対し、J・S・ミルは快楽に質的な差を認めて「質的快楽主義」へと変わる。さらに、ベンサムは外的制裁を重んじたが、ミルは内面的な動機、良心、自己陶冶(とうや)の重要性も認めて、心情道徳、完成説への傾斜を示した。彼らと同時代の急進主義者たちにも功利主義の傾向がみられるが、以後もスペンサーやスティーブンらの進化論的功利主義、シジウィックの倫理、G・E・ムーアの特異な耽美(たんび)的功利主義などがある。さらに、現代イギリス日常言語学派の、メタ倫理学の暗黙の規範意識や、広くアングロ・アメリカンの道徳思想には、その多様な変形がうかがわれる。

　功利主義に内在する問題として、たとえば次の点を指摘できよう。

(1)最大多数の至福が目的である以上、功利主義は目的論の一形態として目的論一般のもつ問題に直面する。義務論のような反目的論の立場は、たとえば約束の履行などの根拠が、単に社会全体の至福に及ぼす結果だけでなく、正義、社会的公正などの、各成員に対する平等の配慮のような別の原理に基づくと主張する。

(2)かりに功利的目的の達成が義務の一つだとしても、倫理的に目的は善であるべきだから、功利の原則の根底には善行の義務の原則が予想されよう。しかも、ベンサム、ミル父子は、善を幸福と、幸福を快楽と同一視したが、その必然性はなく、理論、現実の両面で多様な善の内容が考えられる。

(3)量的、質的快楽主義の対照から明らかなように、目的評価の基準の不明確さは、快楽主義的功利主義の基礎を不安定にし、また量的測定の基準だけでは、功利主義を経済的価値のような道徳外の価値に従属させるおそれがある。

［杖下隆英］

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