PoM Week 3 Flashcards
Robert Nozick’s ‘Utility Monster’ is about?
An alien that gains more pleasure from eating humans than human can experience.
Derek Parfit’s assertion that in a world where total utility is key, there would be a majority of people who’s lives are barely worth living, is referred to as?
The Repugnant Conclusion
What are some potential issues with the Hedonic Calculus?
- There are no units
2. It’s too long winded
John Harris’ thought experiment in which people are selected as donors is called?
“The Organ Lottery”/”The Survival Lottery”
Ingenious mathematics describes a response to the Harris’ thought experiment, but what is the objection it makes?
The fear created in society by the lottery would outweigh the good of having readily available organs to save lives. Therefore, overall happiness in society is decreased.
Describe Bernard Williams’ thought experiment “George”
A research scientist in poor health, unemployed is financially dependent on his wife. George is a pacifist but is approached by a government department that offers a job in manufacturing chemical weapons. If he takes the job he will be financially stable but will feel guilt ridden, if he doesn’t someone more overzealous will take the job and he will be left in financial turmoil.
Describe Bernard Williams’ though experiment “Jim and Pedro”
Jim is backpacking in South America, when he walks through a small isolated town he sees twenty prisoners awaiting execution. The captain, Pedro, says that as an honoured guest in the village, Jim can have the opportunity to kill one of the prisoners in order to let the other nineteen off scott-free.
What do Williams’ though experiments aim to prove?
That consequentialism doesn’t have the answers to dense ethical dilemmas, what matters is the integrity of the person in question.
What is the name of the thought experiment which describes the last living person on earth who wrongly believes there are other living people who are in pain, and takes pleasure in this thought?
The Deluded Sadist
Describe the Problem of Justice
Somebody commits a heinous crime and it is certain that they will never re-offend. And it is guaranteed that they will never be caught. The police frame a suspect because this will deter others. The public are also sated and relieved. The good outweighs the personal pain of the scapegoat.
Who believed that Utilitarianism doesn’t respect the separateness of persons?
John Rawls
Describe the separateness of persons objection to utilitarianism.
People are only considered as indistinguishable bearers of pleasure and pain: not as the sources of claims on each other.
