LECTURE 6.1: MILL Flashcards
The beneficiary or recipient of the act is the moral agent himself ; Any action that maximizes the good for oneself is right
Egoism
Reciprocity version of egoism because when you are enjoined to do an act that will benefit another since you expect the person to do the same to you (e.g. The Golden Rule)
Enlightened Egoism
Concerned with one’s own self-interest with his own happiness and pleasure. ; Other people’s interest is important only if it will contribute to the enhancement of one’s own self-interest.
Egoistic Hedonism
You are enticed to maximize the pleasures of the moment, anticipation of future pleasures has no bearing on the present. ; Thus, pleasure is the supreme and only good in life. Pain is the only evil.
Cyrenaics of ancient Greece
“Eat, drink and be ______, for tomorrow you might _____.”
merry ; die
Absence of pain in both mind and body - highest pleasure
Epicurus
According to _______, the greatest good is to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility, ataraxia, and aponia.
Epicurus
This is the freedom from fear/anxiety.
Ataraxia
This is the absence from bodily pain.
Aponia
This embraces a pluralistic definition of good (eg. Beauty, wisdom, knowledge, temperance, pleasure) and all of these must be maximized for everyone. (eg. Hastings Rashdall)
Non-hedonistic utilitarianism
This construed as the maximization of pleasure and the avoidance of pain in order to promote happiness or the good for greatest number. (What will maximize the good for the greatest number.)
Utilitarianism
A kind of utilitarianism wherein the act will benefit only a sector of the population, an interest group or a class (this process may make other sectors worse).
Limited Utilitarianism
He believes that an act is right if it maximizes the total pleasure of the community (like interest groups, family, associations, political parties, religious groups, etc.)
Bentham
This kind of utilitarianism is against maximization of happiness to benefit only a small sector of society. The good must be maximized for all of humankind without discrimination.
Universal Utilitarianism
This says that an act is right and wrong solely on the basis of the act alone. ; Examines each individual case/consequence
Act Utilitarianism
What are the 2 Schools of thought?
Act Utilitarianism and Rule Utilitarianism
This applies the principle of utility to general rules and not specific acts. ; “What rules, if followed by everyone all the time, will maximize the good in the world?”
Rule Utilitarianism
He is a teleologist/consequentialist who wrote ‘Utilitarianism’, ‘On Liberty’, ‘On the functions of Government’, etc.
John Stuart Mill
This is the the ultimate end (summum bonum); the foundation of morality
Happiness
What is good in any situation can be demonstrated and quantified in terms of the amount of pleasure that it could bring about.
Bentham’s Hedonic Calculus
What are the 2 quality of pleasure?
Intellectual pleasure and Physiological pleasure
These are the mental pleasures.
Intellectual Pleasure
These are the bodily pleasures.
Physiological pleasures
This is the utility as the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
General Happiness
Justice as an aspect of utility (social utility)
Social welfare
“It is better to be a _______ being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be ______ dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
human ; Socrates
“All persons have a right to equality of treatment except when some recognized ________ __________ requires the reverse.”
social expediency
“Happiness is a good..,that each person’s happiness is a good to that person, and the ______ _________, therefore, a good to the aggregate of all persons.”
general happiness
“Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness (____ _____ _______). By _______ is intended pleasure and the absence of pain.”
Greatest Happiness Principle ; happiness
This will lead to the maximum amount of happiness and utility for a maximum number of people, but once decided upon, the rules should apply without exception.
Moral rules
Why is it important to follow these rules?
Because it lives to a stable society.
Not following the rule may have served a better purpose for themselves only.
Human Frailty
Humans are not good in making the best decisions that will be beneficial for the greater good of the greatest number.
Poor decision making
Who will benefit from the good consequences of the act?
Beneficiary
If you can attain ______ ______ and _______ of ______, you have achieved the highest felicity.
bodily health ; peace ; mind
According to Epicurus. “The ______ is a life of bodily health and mental calm spent in the company of friends speculating about _______ and the _______.”
ideal ; nature ; cosmos
According to ________, “The greatest good is to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility/peace of mind, freedom from fear/anxiety (“ataraxia”), and absence from bodily pain (“aponia”).
Epicurus
