Key Moments
Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do? Episode 02: "PUTTING A PRICE TAG ON LIFE"
Harvard UniversityKey Moments
Utilitarianism's "greatest good for the greatest number" faces challenges when valuing life, as seen in the Ford Pinto case where valuing life too low led to an unethical decision.
Key Insights
The core utilitarian principle is to maximize overall happiness or utility, defined as the balance of pleasure over pain, for the greatest number of people.
A Ford cost-benefit analysis estimated the cost of safety improvements for the Pinto at $137 million, while the projected benefits from preventing 180 deaths and 67 injuries were only $49.5 million.
Philip Morris's cost-benefit analysis of smoking in the Czech Republic found a net public finance gain of $147 million due to tax revenues and reduced healthcare and pension costs from premature deaths.
Critics argue that utilitarianism fails to adequately respect individual rights and minority interests, citing the example of Christians being thrown to lions for Roman entertainment.
John Stuart Mill attempted to refine utilitarianism by distinguishing between 'higher' and 'lower' pleasures, suggesting that those who have experienced both qualitatively prefer the former.
Mill argued that individual rights and justice, while sacred, are ultimately grounded in their contribution to long-term social utility, making them paramount for the overall good of humankind.
Utilitarianism's core principle: Maximizing utility
Utilitarianism, as proposed by Jeremy Bentham, centers on the principle that the highest moral aim, both personally and politically, is to maximize general welfare or collective happiness. This is achieved by increasing the balance of pleasure over pain. Bentham believed that pain and pleasure are our 'sovereign masters,' and therefore, any moral system must account for them. For communities and legislators, this translates to a cost-benefit analysis: adding up all benefits and subtracting all costs to find the policy that maximizes the net balance of happiness. This utilitarian logic, often under the guise of cost-benefit analysis, is widely used by companies and governments today.
Valuing human life in cost-benefit analysis: The Czech Republic and Ford Pinto cases
Contemporary applications of cost-benefit analysis reveal the ethical dilemmas of placing a dollar value on human life. In the Czech Republic, a Philip Morris study found that the government gained a net of $147 million from smoking due to tax revenues and savings in healthcare, pension, and housing costs from premature deaths. This calculation suggested a saving of over $1,200 for each person who died prematurely from smoking. A more infamous case involved the Ford Pinto in the 1970s. Ford knew its fuel tank was vulnerable to explosion in rear collisions but calculated that the cost of installing a safety shield ($137 million) outweighed the benefits of preventing 180 deaths and 67 injuries ($49.5 million), based on a value of $200,000 per death and $67,000 per injury. This calculation, when revealed in court, appalled jurors and led to a huge settlement, highlighting the public's revulsion to such heartless calculations.
Objections to utilitarianism: Rights and the commensurability of values
These cases spark significant objections to utilitarianism. One major concern, raised by participant Anna, is that utilitarianism fails to respect individual rights and the concerns of minorities. If the majority's happiness is prioritized, the needs and rights of smaller groups can be disregarded. The example of Christians being thrown to lions for Roman entertainment illustrates this point: the immense pleasure of the crowd might outweigh the excruciating pain of a few, yet it feels morally wrong to condone such an act. This leads to a second objection: the aggregability of values. Can all human concerns and values truly be translated into a single, uniform measure, like dollars? A 1930s study by psychologist Edward Thorndike, asking people how much they would need to be paid to undergo unpleasant experiences, revealed the difficulty, and perhaps absurdity, of such precise quantification. Items like having a tooth pulled, eating a worm, or living in Kansas yielded vastly different monetary valuations, suggesting that cherished values might not be easily comparable or reducible to a single metric.
John Stuart Mill's refinement: Higher pleasures and qualified utilitarianism
John Stuart Mill, influenced by Harriet Taylor, sought to humanize utilitarianism and address these objections. He argued that it is possible to distinguish between 'higher' and 'lower' pleasures. Mill's test for a higher pleasure is that of those who have experienced both, the vast majority, irrespective of moral obligation, will decisively prefer the higher one. He famously stated, 'It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.' While this distinction might seem to rely on external judgment, Mill insisted it's based on actual, experienced preferences. The experiment with clips from Hamlet, 'Fear Factor,' and 'The Simpsons' aimed to test this. While many found 'The Simpsons' most entertaining, some argued that Shakespeare represented a 'higher,' nobler experience that required cultivation and deeper appreciation, even if less immediately pleasurable.
Reconceptualizing justice and rights within utilitarianism
Mill also addressed the objection regarding individual rights. While he maintained that utility is the sole standard of morality, he described justice as 'the chief part and incomparable the most sacred and binding part of all morality.' He argued that individual rights are privileged not because they are absolute but because, in the long run, respecting them significantly enhances social utility. Mill believed that a society that upholds justice and respects rights will ultimately be better off and more progressive. However, the question remains whether this is a genuine utilitarian justification or a subtle departure from utilitarian principles, invoking non-utilitarian reasons for safeguarding rights.
Bentham's legacy: Preserved for posterity
Jeremy Bentham's commitment to his philosophy extended even beyond his death. In his will, he stipulated that his body be preserved and displayed at University College London. This 'Auto-icon,' as it's known, consists of his actual body, embalmed, with a wax head substituted for the original, which was not successfully preserved. His actual head is displayed separately. This unusual display serves as a physical embodiment of his philosophy, with the university minutes even recording him as 'present but not voting' at board meetings. Bentham's self-preservation for inspiration highlights a unique dedication to philosophical principles.
Mentioned in This Episode
●Products
●Companies
●Books
●Concepts
●People Referenced
Value of Human Life in Cost-Benefit Analysis (Various Estimates)
Data extracted from this episode
| Entity/Context | Estimated Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Philip Morris study (Czech Republic smoking) | $1200 per premature death | Net public finance gain |
| Ford Pinto case (1970s) | $200,000 per death | Used by Ford in internal analysis; later considered too low by jurors and public. |
| Student suggestion (adjusting for inflation) | $2 million | Potential adjusted figure for Ford Pinto case. |
| Student suggestion (cell phone ban) | $1 million - $2 million | Hunch for the value to decide on banning cell phones while driving. |
Thorndike's Experiment: Monetary Value of Unpleasant Experiences
Data extracted from this episode
| Experience | Estimated Monetary Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Live on a farm in Kansas | $300,000 | Most expensive item on the list. |
| Eat a live earthworm (6 inches) | $100,000 | Second most expensive item. |
| Have one upper front tooth pulled out | $4,500 | Least expensive item during the Depression. |
Common Questions
Utilitarianism's core principle is to maximize utility, which means maximizing the general welfare, collective happiness, or the overall balance of pleasure over pain. It aims for the greatest good for the greatest number.
Topics
Mentioned in this video
English philosopher and jurist, born in 1748, who founded utilitarianism. His philosophy emphasizes maximizing utility and the principle of the greatest good for the greatest number.
A philosopher who refined utilitarianism, attempting to address objections about individual rights and distinguishing between higher and lower pleasures. He wrote 'On Liberty' and 'Utilitarianism'.
A book by John Stuart Mill, published in 1861, where he clarifies his utilitarian views and argues for the distinction between higher and lower pleasures.
A famous book by John Stuart Mill, published in 1859, emphasizing the importance of defending individual and minority rights.
Cited as an example of popular entertainment that is generally preferred over Shakespeare, used in a thought experiment to test John Stuart Mill's distinction between higher and lower pleasures.
Mentioned as an example of popular entertainment, used in a comparison to gauge preferences between 'higher' and 'lower' pleasures.
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