Chapter 8 Flashcards
Which statement(s) summarize classical utilitarianism?
a. actions are judged to be right or wrong solely by virtue of their consequences.
b. in assessing consequences the only thing that matters is the amount of happiness or unhappiness that is created.
c. Each person’s happiness counts the same.
According to classical utilitarianism
right actions are those that create the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness.
According to Mill the utilitarian doctrine is that
happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable as an end.
According to classical Utilitarians happiness…
happiness is pleasure.
According to classical Utilitarians pleasure…
pleasure includes all mental states that feel good.
The idea that pleasure is the one ultimate good and pain the ultimate evil is known as
Hedonism.
Hedonism has always been an attractive theory of ethics
because of its simplicity.
Hedonism expresses the plausible notion that things are good or bad
because of how they make us feel.
To determine whether an action is right Utilitarians believe that
we should look at what happens as a result of doing it.
If things other than consequences are important in determining what is right
utilitarianism is wrong.
One of utilitarianisms most serious shortcomings is that
it is incompatible with the ideal of justice.
Utilitarianism is at odds with the idea that
people have rights that should not be trampled on.
If consequences are all that matter utilitarianism has problems recognizing that
there are facts about the past that relevant to determining our obligations.
One problem with the idea that there must be an equal concern for all people is that
this places too high a demand on us.
Faithful adherence to the utilitarian standard would require us
to give away our resources until we’ve lowered our standard of living to the level of the neediest of people.
Philosophers call supererogatory acts
generosity that goes beyond the call of duty.
Philosophers call supererogatory acts
attaching sanctions to rules is the only way to enforce them.
An ethic such as utilitarianism that promotes the general welfare
would force us to abandon most of our endeavors. **more?
According to Rachels none of us is willing to treat everyone equally
since it would require us to abandon our special relationships with friends and family.
According to Rachels when we are impartial
we miss out on intimacy, love, affection and friendship.
According to Rachels anti-utilitarian arguments make unreasonable assumptions
when they claim certain actions are required that are obviously immoral.
. According to Rachel’s one difficulty with Utilitarian is that
individual actions should be referenced to the principle of utility.
A revised version of utilitarianism
1) individual actions would no longer be judged by the principle of utility.
2) would ask what set of rules is optimal from a utilitarian standpoint.
According to Rachels the claim that utilitarianism is wrong because it conflicts with common moral consciousness can be answered by claiming that
common moral consciousness is wrong.
According to Rachels the claim that common sense morality cannot be trusted
may turn out to be utilitarianisms greatest contribution.