Ethics and Values Flashcards
For Singer, what is the difference between consequentialist and non-consequentialist thought?
Non-consequentialists honour rather than promote values, yet for him ideas of liberty and respect should be promoted
Who saw utilitarianism as non-calculating system?
John Austin in The Providence of Jurisprudence Determined, which saw law held by those with power as more important - consequentialism justifies action rather than creates moralistic computers
What does Singer support in terms of fixing moralistic computers?
Use of restrictive consequentialism, where the consequences are seen as more important than taking the time to calculate them - promote best ideas instead
What is the problem with honouring actions rather than promoting them for Singer?
There is no reason to honour one value over another - consequentialism is more rational therefore
What problem does Mill have with pleasure and happiness?
Mill equates them, but what about the depressed man drinking - gains pleasure but no real happiness
How does Benn fix Mill?
Goodness legitimises pleasure, so that sadism is not taken into account in terms of consequences
How does Benn value not acting?
Act omission can be as bad as causing a bad consequence itself, but for him it is supererogatory - malice is worse than sloth, even if this only explains rather than justifies actions
How does Benn see the problem of bad motives?
It is important not to desire bad effects, a bad outcome is acceptable if the guiding intention was a good one - Just War Theory criticised therefore
How does Benn evaluate Rawls’ separateness of persons?
Avoid impartial benevolent spectator creating a unitary perspective rather than an individual’s interest - as a result, injustice is the biggest problem for consequentialism
What is the problem with the unitary perspective?
Total utility is more important than average utility, never any idea of threshold reaching
Why is the experience machine not a good idea?
Motivations for pleasurable things count as well - being in machine does not give that deeper reasoning
How does Nozick view rights?
Rights should be side constraints otherwise it would be impossible to act it using someone as a means, without having to check every time that they weren’t
What are innocent threats?
Individuals who have become threatening to you due to the actions of others but are in fact innocent themselves - raises problems for ethics
Which problem does Nozick raise which would be difficult to find a solution to, yet likely would not exist?
Utility monster, who kills all others to maximise their utility - akin to climate change?
Why does Nozick disagree with the experience machine in terms of pleasure?
We take pleasure from the want to do certain things and doing them, rather than the experience
Why does Nozick disagree with the experience machine in terms of the individual?
No ability to develop personally in the machine, no personality trait found so who we really are is seen as unimportant - lack of respect to person
Why does Nozick disagree with the experience machine in terms of the experience provided?
No actual contact with deeper reality such as psychedelic drugs or nirvana
What is an example of Bentham’s rejection of religion in morality?
Mercy killings, showing there is no utilitarianism to God
What is happiness for Rachels?
Not the good, but a response to things we think are the good
Why does Rachels see utilitarianism as against justice?
It tramples on rights and ignores backward-looking reasons, confining our attention to what will happen, and ignoring personal relationships
What does utilitarian thought do with supererogatory actions?
Eliminates the distinction between moral and supererogatory for Rachels
Why does JJC Smart disagree with deontology?
The common sense standpoints of deontology are actually based on prejudice, and are fixed even if society changes, therefore irrational
What is the narrative arc objection?
Often overall utility is not as important as the order in which events come in in seeing how good they are - yet when goodness is happiness, this appears circular
How does Mill differentiate higher and lower pleasures?
If all those who had experienced both preferred one to the other, then that is the higher pleasure - also in terms of long term development of person
How does act utilitarianism overcome rule utilitarianism?
Constant fine-graining of rules in order to satisfy all cases leads to collapse of requirement of rules - also, for utilitarians it should be clear already what is bad without rules
What is the downfall of negative utilitarianism?
If saving people from pain is vital, then killing painlessly those who are suffering is a moral imperative
Why is preference utilitarianism preferred by some?
It is easier to please someone’s preferences than find out what really makes them happy, and is therefore less paternalistic
What are motive consequentialists?
Best acts are motivates by wanting best results (Parfit)
How does Parfit use maxims in consequentialism?
Use of optimistic maxims, that if everyone acted on these things would go impartially best
What is the Kantian Law of Nature Formula for Parfit?
Individuals would rationally will it to be true that everyone followed these maxims, leads to the Kantian argument for Rule Consequentialism
Why are optimific principles good for Parfit?
They toe the line between egoism and impartiality, as there are sufficient reasons to support both often. Also can allow us to support actions that would not make things go best - instead, holding up partial ideas like love
Why does Parfit see fault in impartiality?
If everyone had the power to choose which principles everyone had to accept, they would be impartial yet still allow deontic rules such as permitting love
What does Parfit use overall in his theory?
Kant’s Formula of Universal Law with Rule Consequentialism implied within
Why is preference utilitarianism objected to?
Inter-personal case of two individuals with two strong preferences - which one to support? Also bad preferences exist, how should be regard/evaluate these?
What is the practical impossibility objection?
It is impossible to foresee all consequences of an action, and therefore it is hard to know what is moral and what maximises utility - yet normally it is not so hard to know what is moral - reducto ad absurdum
What is Mill’s opinion of the hedonic calculus?
Use of rules of conventional morality instead as these will lead to greatest utility, rather than spending time calculating things
How does the utilitarian overcome the sadist objection?
Either through accepting the end results of it, or using higher and lower pleasures, where sadist pleasures are seen valueless
What is the demandingness objection to utilitarianism?
Giving all to charity to maximise utility is a moral imperative for utilitarians as no idea of degrees
What reasons does Williams give to support utilitarianism?
No link between religion and morality, happiness is a simple idea, calculation of what is moral is a clear system, and no problem of two bad decisions that deontology faces
What is the problem of what counts as utility for Williams?
If too generous, then difficult to argue that it is clear to calculate the good
What is Williams’ problem with both act and rule utilitarianism?
We do not know what it would be like if everyone followed utilitarianism so the imagined consequences do not hold water
What is Williams’ final belief on utilitarianism?
To reach utilitarian aims, people should not believe in utilitarianism such as in sadist case
How does Singer view promises in utilitarianism?
There is no rational basis for promises under utilitarianism as since those upholding the promise know that those under it are expecting it to be broken when utility allows, no point for promise in first place
How does Singer expect communication to occur in utilitarianism?
Since everyone knows truth is dependent on utility, why would you trust and therefore communicate with anyone? There is no utility benefit for telling the truth often
How does Singer fix the problem of communication?
Once people realise that utility is increased through communication, it occurs, but not before shutdown of normal communication - truth-telling sets up good practice that helps all, same with not lying
What is the difference between Mill and Sidgwick on utilitarianism?
Mill - support actions that are reasonably expected to maximise happiness
Sidgwick - support actions that tend to promote greatest happiness
What does rule utilitarianism fix?
Enforced impartiality, moral status of actions (importance of consequences compared to motives) and justice
What problem does Scheffler-Landau raise about justice in utilitarianism?
The well-connected criminal may be able to force the jury to get him off, which maximises utility at the price of justice
What did RM Hare believe in?
Keep slavery if it maximises utility
What does Hooker believe on rule utilitarianism?
Rules should be decided around both happiness and fairness
What does Singer believe in terms of salary?
You only legally, rather than morally have ownership of your paycheck - spread it widely instead
What has Harris written on utilitarianism?
Survival Lottery where an individual is killed to harvest organs - morally required, and arguments against are just moral convictions
What does Scheffler-Landau say about those who support utilitarianism or not?
Importance of common sense belief on moral convictions leads to support or reject of utilitarianism
What does JJC Smart believe about rules in utilitarianism?
Rules do not matter for act utilitarians, save per accidens as rules of thumb and as de facto social institutions
What did Sidgwick think about the spread of utilitarianism?
Limit the spread as mass public reach these ends anyways with their decisions
What did Smart think about educating others on utilitarianism?
With the increasingly-connected world we live in there cannot be self-containing acts anymore so all require utilitarian thought
What does Smart think about the almanac case of Mill?
Given that if direct calculations were taken instead of taking readings from the almanac, it would be irrational to support the almanac when these differed - therefore Mill is still an act utilitarian
How does Sidgwick divide utility of events?
Utility of action and utility of praise of it - different, as right action can be rationally condemned ie saving the drowning Hitler