Explain each of the following: - How moral decisions are made using Rule Utilitarianism - Mill’s ideas concerning the importance of the quality of pleasure

-RULE UTILITARIANISM Moral decisions according to Rule Utilitarianism follow general maxims or rules which when adhered to achieve the maximum amount of pleasure or happiness. General rules such as 'do not lie', 'do not murder', 'help out others in need', should be followed and when they are the greatest good is achieved. This is in contrast to Act Utilitarianism in which there are no general, overarching rules but rather one should assess each individual action on its own merits. There is strong rule utilitarianism, in which rules are always adhered to and then there is weak utilitarianism in which sometimes there may be exception to following these rule. It is important to note when answering this question that although one follows rules, rule utilitarianism is not like the deontology of Kant. Rule Utilitarianism remains teleological because it still aims to deliver the best outcome, the greatest pleasure. Only Rule Utilitarians believe this is achieved by following rules. -MILL It is important to understand the context in which Mill was writing, but not spend too much of your limited time writing about it. Note that Mill was a pupil of Bentham and Mill's utilitarianism was very much a response to the criticisms that were thrown at Bentham. These being that Bentham's Utilitarianism was too selfish and focused too much on base pleasures like alcohol, sex or good food. This is why Mill distinguishes between higher and lower pleasures, whereas Bentham said that all pleasures were equal Mill prioritised higher pleasures. Higher pleasures are those of the mind and intellect, for example attending the opera or reading poetry is of more value than eating a chocolate bar or watching cartoons. Mill does not say that we should not indulge in lower pleasures, those of the body, because of course we need them to survive but instead we should prioritise higher pleasures. A good quote to use here is, 'It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.' (JS Mill) This demonstrates that the mere existence of pleasure is not enough, but it is the quality of that pleasure that counts. You may wish to illustrate real world examples of how this could work. For example government only has a limited amount of money for arts funding, if they were to follow Mill's ideas of pleasure how would this affect their choices? Maybe they would put more money into the theatre and opera and less into sports such as football.