Util

Question 1

Bentham general

Answer 1

non theist
hedonistic
barrister, wanted new justice, principle of utility

Question 2

HC egs

Answer 2

intensity
fecundity
duration

Question 3

act util

Answer 3

individualistic approach
apply HC
rules are not valuable

modern: Sedgwick

Question 4

case studies

Answer 4

Bernard williams - Indians

richard norman - kids and bike

Question 5

mill summary

Answer 5

Bentham ‘remained a child’
happiness is not physical
about happiness of society

Question 6

higher/lower pleasures

Answer 6

quality of pleasure

socrates vs. pig

Question 7

mill - weak rule

Answer 7

rules are guidance, help majority
not necessary, can be subjective
for happiness of society

Alasdair macintyre

Question 8

similarities

Answer 8

happiness and pleasure are inbuilt
teleological
no religion

Question 9

differences

Answer 9

quality vs. quantity
H/L pleasures vs. HC
society, human rights vs. individual, no HR

Question 10

pref util

Answer 10

singer
what is rationally preferable
e.g. altruism
speciesism

Question 11

critics of bentham

Answer 11

• hume, NF
• nozick, pleasure = happiness?
• Macintyre, neglect minority in need e.g. woman gang raped
• robert Murrary, “If we take away conscience, as Bentham does, there is no such thing as moral or immoral action.
• c l wayper, in his study of the atomic individual, he has left out both society and history”.
• Hodgson, act util is not practical
• pojman, Utilitarianism can require us to violate our most deeply held principles

Question 12

supporters of bentham

Answer 12

Bernard williams: accessible etc.
sidgwick, intuitively go for what will cause the most pleasure
hare, if I say that I ought to behave in a certain way toward others, it follows that, if the situation were exactly reversed, they ought to behave in the same way toward me

Question 13

supporters of mill

Answer 13

palmer, happiness has instrumental value. (supporting mill on happiness is not something physical)

Question 14

Bentham human rights

Answer 14

nonsense on stilts
natural rights lack ontological basis
rights accorded in the French declaration (1789) led to revolution

Question 15

mill on human rights

Answer 15

if you increase personal happiness, you will increase your own

moral duty and rights at centre of argument. when one fails to fulfil moral duty, ne causes harm to another

justice is key part of morality

for the safeguard of the minority interest, he supported the system of Proportional Representation. He said that the majority had no right to suppress the feeling of the minority.

Question 16

critics of mill

Answer 16

R.B. Brandt points out, it is not clear how we are to compare the alternatives between which we are choosing, as desires change