Ethical Reasoning: Chapter 6: Utilitarianism

In effect, the rule-utilitarianism asks, what?

"What if everyone followed this rule?"

Greatest Happiness Principle

According to John Staurt Mill, the principle that "holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness."

________________ ______________ affirms the principle that the right action is the one that directly produces the best balance of happiness over unhappiness for all concerned.

Classic utilitarianism

Act-utilitarianism would have us first determine what rule an action falls under, then see if that rule would likely maximize utility if everyone followed it. True/False?

False - rule-utilitarianism

If right actions are those that maximize happiness, then it seems that the utilitarian would be doing right by what?

Framing the innocent person

According to John Staurt Mill, the principle that "holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness."

Greatest happiness principle

Bentham thinks that happiness varies only in quantity-different actions produce different amounts of what?

Happiness

Utilitarianism is through and through a moral theory for promoting what?

Human welfare

Attempts to devise such a definition have been fraught with complications-a major one being that people have different ideas about what things are what?

Intrinsically valuable

Principle of Utility

Jeremy Bentham's "principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question.

Even if ______________ is morally wrong primarily because of the kind of act it is we cannot plausibly think that a lie that saves a thousand lives is morally equivalent to one that changes nothing.

Lying

Everyone concerned counts equally in every what?

Moral decisions

Sometimes it is our considered ________________ ____________________ may tell us that an action is right regardless of the (or evil) it does.

Moral judgements

If act-utilitarianism does demand too much of us, then its usefulness as a guide to the ________________ ____________________ is suspect.

Moral life

Utilitarianism-perhaps more than any other moral theory-incorporates the what, a fundamental pillar of morality itself?

Principle of impartiality

Bentham called the utilitarian principle the ______________________ _________ ___________________ and asserted that all our actions can be judged by it. (Mill called it the _______________ __________________ ___________________).

Principle of utilitarianism; greatest happiness principle

Jeremy Bentham's "principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question.

Principle of utility

Mill, however, does try to show that the _____________________ __________ ____________ is a least a plausible basis for the theory.

Principle of utility

Like act-utilitarianism, _______________ -______________________ aims at the greatest good for all affected individuals, but it maintains that we travel an indirect rout to that goal.

Rule-utilitarianism

To avoid the problems that act-utilitarianism is alleged to have, some utilitarians have turned to what?

Rule-utilitarianism

A rule-utilitarianism tries to follow every valid rule-even if doing so may not maximize utility in a specific situation. True/False?

True

An act-utilitarian tries to judge the rightness of actions by the consequences they produce, occasionally relying on "rules of thumb" (such as "Usually we should not harm innocents") merely to save time. True/False?

True

An underlying tenet of utilitarianism is tat you should promote good of everyone concerned and that everyone counts equally. True/False?

True

Classic utilitarianism-the kind of act-utilitarianism formulated by Bentham-is the simplest form of theory. True/False?

True

Each of circumstances calling for a moral choice is unique, requiring a new calculation of the varying consequences of possible actions. True/False?

True

Framing the innocent is unjust, through, and our considered moral judgments would be at odds with such an action. True/False?

True

In act-utilitarianism, we must examine each action to see how much good (or evil) it generates. True/False?

True

In classic act-utilitarianism, knowing how to tote up the amount to utility, or happiness, generated by various actions is essential. Bentham's answer to this requirement is the _________________ ______________.

True

In rule-utilitarianism, the morally right action is not the one that directly brings about the greatest good but the one covered by a rule that, if followed consistently, produces the greatest good for all. True/False?

True

Moral common sense, they say, can be mistaken, and our intuitions can be tenuous or distorted- but we should cast them aside only for good reasons. True/False?

True

Some utilitarians have tried to sidestep these difficulties by insisting that maximizing utility means maximizing people's preferences, whatever they are. This formulation seems to avoid some of the difficulties just mentioned but falls prey to another : some people's preferences may be clearly objectionable when judged by almost any moral standard, whether utilitarian or nonconsequentialist. True/False?

True

Utilitarianism (in all its forms) requires that in our actions we always try to maximize utility, everyone considered. True/False?

True

Utilitarianism is one of the most influential moral theories in history. True/False?

True

Whatever factors work to make an action (or wrong), surely the consequences of what we do must somehow be among them. True/False?

True

Bentham and Mill do not offer ironclad arguments demonstrating that _________________ is the best moral theory.

Utilitarianism

The English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was the first to fill out the theory in detail, and the English philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) developed it further. In their hands, ____________________ became a powerful instrument of social reform.

Utilitarianism