Ch 5 Utilitarianism & John Stuart Mill

This question is not part of Utilitarian reasoning

"Who are the people involved, and what are my obligations to them?"

Mill's proof of utilitarianism

*Good is defined in terms of what people desire. *Happiness is the only thing desired for itself, so it is the only intrinsic good

The Trolley Problem

*Moral dilemmas *Research: sometimes there are conflicts in how we actually react and how we think we should react to morally fraught situations. *Concern: utilitarian calculation involves "coldness" that runs counter to empathy and other emotional responses

Consequentialism

*Normative theories that focus on the consequences of actions; *examples include egoism, altruism, utilitarianism (vs. non-consequentialism).

principle of utility(greatest happiness principle)

*basic moral principle of utilitarianism *The morally best alternative is that which produces the greatest net utility. *We ought to do that which produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.

utilitarianism

*belief that each of us count equally, no one counts for more than others; *we ought to decide which or action or practice is best by considering the likely or actual consequences of each alternative; not an egoist theory; some call universalistic *consequentialist moral theory

Jeremy Bentham

*founding fathers of utilitarianism; extended his concern to all suffering being including non human beings *ought to consider the quantiy of happiness or pleasure of all who are affected by an action or practice that is to be considered

problems evaluating utilitarianism

*noone can consider all the variables in happiness *it is an affront to our personal integrity *the "ends justifies the means" does more harm than good

weaknesses of utilitarianism

could cause Tyranny of the majority, assigning numbers is subjective, calculations are complicated, could be dehumanizing, rule utilitarianism is absolute, equality could lead to problems

strengths of utilitarianism

everyone is equal, the majority is considered, tries to be objective

false

Utilitarianism is an egoistic moral theory.

Two Main Features of Utilitarianism

consequentialist hedonistic

Rule utilitarianism

consider the consequences of some practice or rule of behavior

hedonism (epicureanism)

bodily pleasure and mental delight and peace were the goods to be sought in life

true

According to Bentham, some pleasures may be more valuable than others but only in so far as they are of greater intensity or duration.

true

According to Mill, the only way to prove that something is desirable in itself (as an end) is to notice that people do desire it.

true

According to act utilitarianism, if it produces more net utility or pleasure to give money that I had promised to return to a friend to famine relief instead, then I ought to give it to the relief fund.

false

According to utilitarian moral theory, happiness is an instrumental good.

pleasure

According to utilitarianism which of the following is an intrinsic good?

the result

According to utilitarianism which of the following is useful for evaluating the morality of an action?

false

According to utilitarianism, an act that makes some people happy and others unhappy can never be morally right.

hedonic calculus

An algorithm for measuring pleasure and pain.

false

Both Bentham and Mill hold that some pleasures are better in kind than others.

Deontology

Certain features in the act itself have intrinsic value (i.e. would see something intrinsically wrong in the very act of lying). The center of value is the act.

It is difficult to assign dollar value life or happiness

Cost-benefit analysis is one popular version of utilitarianism. Which of the following is the main problem identified with cost-benefit analysis in the textbook? (trolley problem)

duration

How long will the pleasure last?

extent

How many will feel the effect?

remoteness

How soon the pleasure will occur

certainty

How sure is it that the pleasure will occur?

true

In his work, Utilitarianism, Mill's test or basis for distinguishing higher from lower pleasures is the preference of those who have experience of both.

true

In the reading from Utilitarianism Mill writes that we have learned by experience that murder and theft are wrong because they are generally injurious to human happiness.

Famous preference utilitarian

Peter Singer

Five elements to calculate the Greatest Amount of Happiness

Pleasure minus pain Intensity Duration Fruitfulness Likelihood

as a general practice

Rule Utilitarianism asks that we consider the consequences of each act

true

Something that has value because people can use it to get what they want has instrumental value.

purity

The degree to which a pleasure is not mixed with pain

intensity

The degree/ strength of the pleasure

true

The following is an example of the reasoning of a rule utilitarian: "If the practice of lying is bad, then one ought not to lie now, even if in this case to lie would actually bring about better consequences."

fecundity

The fruitfulness of an action in terms of future pleasures

Preference utilitarianism

The good is what is in the interest of those concerned

true

The reason that Mill believes that pleasure is the only intrinsic good is because he believes that it is the only thing that everyone desires for its own sake.

Strong rule utilitarianism

The view that we should form rules and follow them even if they do not serve pleasure in a particular set of circumstances

Weak rule utilitarianism

The view that we should form rules but set them aside if they do not serve pleasure in a particular set of circumstances

true

Utilitarianism is a moral theory that holds that we ought to promote utility (overall human happiness) and not just personal pleasure.

false

Utilitarianism is a relativistic moral theory, for it recognizes that what is good in some circumstances is not always good in others.

It cannot accurately identify preferences

Which of the following is NOT a criticism of preference utilitarianism?

stress

Which of the following is not included in calculating the amount of happiness?

To act as the majority wishes

Which of the following is not necessary to act morally according to utilitarianism?

Rene Descartes

Which of the following was not one of the founders of utilitarianism?

principle of utilitary explained by John Mill

actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness

procedure for utiliatarianism

add up the interests of everyone that is affected by an action without privileging the interests of anyone in particular

instrumental goods

fame, fortune, education, freedom are useful for attaining the goal of happiness and pleasure

utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism

focuses on consequence of actions; as is egoism, unlike egoism is focuses on consequences for all persons impacted

Act utilitarianism

focuses solely on the consequences of specific individual acts

intrinsic goods

happiness and pleasure, the only things good in themselves

utilitarian goal

maximize the greatest happiness for the greatest number;

Peter Singer

most influential contemporary defender of utilitarianism; that each persons interests ought to be given equal consideration

Classical utilitarianism

pleasure or happiness theory; it reduces all other goods to some form of pleasure or happiness

universalistic

the happiness or pleasure of all who are affected is to be considered; we don't just consider our own good(egoist), or the good of others (altruistic)

hedons

unit of pleasure

true

unlike egoism, utilitarianism focuses on the sum of individual pleasures and pain

John Stuart Mill

we should consider the range of types of pleasure in our attempts to decide what the best action is *the quality of the pleasure should count *intellectual pleasures are better than sensual ones *Suggested a distinction between higher and lower pleasures

Tyranny of the majority

you can do awful things to the minority if it benefits the majority