Rule utilitarianism is an improvement on act utilitarianism. Discuss (40 marks)
“Rule utilitarianism is an improvement on act utilitarianism.” Discuss (40 marks) Mill’s rule utilitarianism is an improvement on Bentham’s act utilitarianism since it is not nearly as self-centred; it takes in to account what everyone else would do. In a sense it is a more responsible ethic. After Bentham’s theory was regarded as being “a doctrine fit for pigs” Mill came up with rule utilitarianism to prove that utilitarianism is a good ethic. Bentham rightly argued that “nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure, it is for them alone to point out what we ought to do.” While Mill believed in the same ethic, he argued that not all pleasure was the same. Both theories are teleological meaning that the end justifies the means. Act utilitarianism is a relativist theory meaning that there are no fixed rules, whatever brings the largest amount of pleasure to the largest number of people is considered to be the right thing. The problem wi...