Consequentialism Egoism Flashcards
Who are the authors of Consequentialist Ethics: Egoism
Richard Burnor and Yvonne Raley
The two most important figures mentioned in this context of consequentialist ethics.
John Stuart Mill and Socrates
What is Hedonism?
A lifestyle where choices, actions, and thoughts are being prioritized to maximize pleasure only.
What is Utility and Disutility
Utility (by the definition of John Stuart Mill) is based on desired positive consequences such as happiness, and pleasure.
Disutility is the opposite where it is an undesired negative consequence of suffering, pain, and unhappiness.
What’s the difference between happiness and pleasure?
Happiness and pleasure are not the same.
Happiness is a harder variable to measure than pleasure.
Happiness is a state of mind that is accomplished through fulfillment and lasts for the long term. Whereas Pleasure is instantaneous and only temporary.
What is Hedonistic Persuasion?
Hedonistic Persuasion is a belief that happiness and pleasure (utility) are the only important principles to be ethical and should be promoted. Pain & suffering (disutility) is to be avoided under this belief.
What happens if there is a presence of both pleasure and happiness (utility) & pain and suffering (disutility) to occur?
Compare the total utility (pleasure/happiness) and total disutility (pain/suffering) by subtracting them. Then if utility is greater than disutility, it would be a desirable choice and ethical.
How are consequences evaluated?
Consequences are evaluated based on whether the consequence has utility or disutility.
If a consequence has the most disutility, then it is to be avoided and immoral. Whereas, if a consequence promotes the most utility, then it is to be desired and ethical.
(ESSENTIAL) What is Consequentialism?
An approach to ethics where consequentialism defines what is morally right or wrong based ONLY on the consequences itself.
This approach determines that all individuals are to be treated equally when evaluating what choices lead to the most utility & disutility of consequences
What does John Stuart Mill suggest regarding the concept of pleasure quality?
John Stuart Mill suggests that all pleasures are good, however, pleasures can be different in terms of high and low quality.
What does Ethical Egoism mean
Ethical Egoism defines what is a good and right decision when it comes to producing the best consequences for myself (self-interest).
Does John Stuart Mill, a consequentialist, integrate Hedonism into his theory
Yes. John Stuart Mill does support that all pleasures or something that leads to happiness do count as UTILITY.
What’s the difference between higher and lower qualities of pleasure, from John Stuart Mill’s Account of Qualities?
Higher pleasure relates to being more intellectual, learning a new skill, or more recognizable experiences. Tends to be longer lasting.
Lower pleasure is more tuned in with having entertainment, eating well, and short-term.
John Stuart Mill attempts to make it so that utility can be observed and measured.
What are the concerns over John Stuart Mill’s Account of Qualities?
The problem with Mill’s concept is that it won’t work because human beings can suffer from disutility. After all, both higher and lower qualities of pleasure are needed to stay happy and stimulated.
It is also a mistake to place morals on high and low qualities of pleasure to determine utility because people’s personal preference isn’t always morally right.
In John Stuart Mill’s Account of Qualities, what does Mill suggest when it comes to giving a moral weight to what kind of quality of pleasure?
John Stuart Mill emphasizes that we should place a greater moral weight on higher-quality pleasure over lower-quality pleasure.
Meaning that we should incorporate this as part of our evaluation of consequences and try to seek more of higher-quality pleasure to do moral good.
