1 00:00:01,389 --> 00:00:05,750 Since human beings are free, our behavior is not predetermined. 2 00:00:06,250 --> 00:00:08,869 We can freely decide what to do. 3 00:00:08,869 --> 00:00:16,489 Of course, there can be some conditionings that influence our behavior, but they don't determine what we do. 4 00:00:17,170 --> 00:00:22,129 Do you understand the difference between determination and influence or conditioning? 5 00:00:22,129 --> 00:00:32,770 A determination means that there are strict causes that explain how things must, by necessity, happen. 6 00:00:33,570 --> 00:00:43,130 For example, if you drop a ball, it will fall down because gravity is forcing it to go down. 7 00:00:44,049 --> 00:00:49,549 So the ball is determined to fall because of the law of gravity. 8 00:00:49,549 --> 00:00:58,770 but human beings are not determined like that. They are conditioned because factors that affect 9 00:00:58,770 --> 00:01:06,450 us can influence our behavior but we have always the possibility to choose to decide because we 10 00:01:06,450 --> 00:01:13,829 are moral beings. Of course this ability to decide can create a lot of conflicts with other people 11 00:01:13,829 --> 00:01:21,069 And that's one of the reasons that makes it necessary to have norms, rules, that organize our coexistence. 12 00:01:21,709 --> 00:01:25,629 Now, a big question is, how should we make these rules? 13 00:01:26,209 --> 00:01:34,569 What is the best way to decide how to behave in society, to make the law, or to decide what is right or wrong? 14 00:01:35,049 --> 00:01:38,890 There are many different ways to answer to this complicated question. 15 00:01:38,890 --> 00:01:45,670 Today we will explore one of them, which is a consequentialist theory. 16 00:01:46,209 --> 00:01:55,549 A consequentialist theory is a theory that puts a great emphasis on the consequences of our actions. 17 00:01:56,269 --> 00:02:01,890 A consequentialist would say that our norms, our rules of behavior, 18 00:02:02,390 --> 00:02:07,450 should be done taking into account the consequences of what you do. 19 00:02:07,450 --> 00:02:17,490 There are different consequentialist theories, so we will focus on one very special and important one, called utilitarianism. 20 00:02:18,469 --> 00:02:29,430 Utilitarianism is a philosophical, ethical theory that was created in England in the 19th century by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. 21 00:02:30,409 --> 00:02:38,550 This theory says that our norms should be done trying to make as many people happy as possible. 22 00:02:39,189 --> 00:02:41,409 So, not all rules are okay. 23 00:02:41,409 --> 00:02:49,169 A rule is ethical, acceptable, adequate if it creates a lot of happiness, 24 00:02:49,629 --> 00:02:53,550 and it is wrong, immoral, if it makes people suffer. 25 00:02:54,389 --> 00:03:02,830 This theory is similar to the one proposed in ancient times by Epicurus. 26 00:03:03,330 --> 00:03:05,409 Maybe you remember what Epicurus said. 27 00:03:05,849 --> 00:03:06,909 He was a hedonist. 28 00:03:07,370 --> 00:03:12,210 He thought that the basic goal in life was to achieve pleasure. 29 00:03:12,689 --> 00:03:16,430 So he thought that good actions are those that produce pleasure 30 00:03:16,430 --> 00:03:19,289 and bad actions are those that produce pain. 31 00:03:19,289 --> 00:03:27,949 utilitarianism is also a hedonistic theory because they think that happiness consists in pleasure 32 00:03:27,949 --> 00:03:35,810 in avoiding suffering in avoiding pain the difference between utilitarianism and epicureanism 33 00:03:35,810 --> 00:03:44,629 is that utilitarianism takes into account the global amount of happiness not just my happiness 34 00:03:44,629 --> 00:03:47,789 but the total happiness of everybody. 35 00:03:48,610 --> 00:03:51,210 All my actions influence other people. 36 00:03:51,770 --> 00:03:53,270 So when we make the rules, 37 00:03:53,569 --> 00:03:56,550 we should think what people are going to do 38 00:03:56,550 --> 00:03:58,849 and how their actions are going to affect others. 39 00:03:59,310 --> 00:04:00,830 And we should make a calculation. 40 00:04:01,509 --> 00:04:04,810 How this law, how this norm, how this behavior 41 00:04:04,810 --> 00:04:06,909 is going to affect other people. 42 00:04:07,250 --> 00:04:09,250 How many people are going to be happy with that? 43 00:04:09,750 --> 00:04:12,349 How many people are going to suffer and be unhappy with that? 44 00:04:12,909 --> 00:04:14,129 Let's make a calculation. 45 00:04:14,629 --> 00:04:20,769 the right thing to do will be the one that produces the greatest global happiness 46 00:04:20,769 --> 00:04:26,170 and the minimum amount of suffering, of pain. 47 00:04:27,170 --> 00:04:31,949 This happiness, this social happiness, is called utility, 48 00:04:32,490 --> 00:04:35,629 and that's why the theory is called utilitarianism. 49 00:04:35,629 --> 00:04:41,949 So, we could say that utilitarianism is a consequentialist ethical theory 50 00:04:41,949 --> 00:04:45,389 that tries to maximize utility, 51 00:04:46,870 --> 00:04:51,129 meaning that tries to make as many people happy as possible. 52 00:04:52,629 --> 00:04:55,870 When John Stuart Mill published his ideas, 53 00:04:56,170 --> 00:04:58,990 some people criticized utilitarianism 54 00:04:58,990 --> 00:05:04,310 because they thought that this would make us live like animals. 55 00:05:04,970 --> 00:05:07,110 Animals also like pleasure. 56 00:05:07,709 --> 00:05:10,629 They like to eat, they like to sleep, they like to reproduce. 57 00:05:10,629 --> 00:05:18,430 What is Mill telling us? Is he inviting us to live like pigs? Of course not. And to explain 58 00:05:18,430 --> 00:05:23,889 why this is not the case, John Stuart Mill made a very important difference between pleasures. 59 00:05:24,610 --> 00:05:31,649 For Mill, not all the pleasures are equal. Some are more important than others. And human beings 60 00:05:31,649 --> 00:05:40,329 can enjoy not only food and drink and sleep, they can also enjoy friendship and culture and art and 61 00:05:40,329 --> 00:05:47,850 music. Those pleasures are relevant, and Mill thought that in the calculation of utility we 62 00:05:47,850 --> 00:05:55,009 should not only take into account the quantity of pleasures, but also the quality. So it is 63 00:05:55,009 --> 00:06:01,610 important to know how important, how relevant, how good the pleasure is. What do you think about 64 00:06:01,610 --> 00:06:08,550 utilitarianism? Do you think that this could be a good way to decide which rules are good for our 65 00:06:08,550 --> 00:06:10,949 society?