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utilitarianism Flashcards

1
Q

normative ethics

A

the articulation and justification of the fundamental principles that govern how we should live and what we morally ought to do.

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2
Q

utilitarianism

A

the morally right action is the action that maximises overall and total utility (good effects)

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3
Q

what are the key characteristics of utilitarian moral ethics

A
  • consequentialism
  • consciousness/welfarism
    -impartiality
    -maximisation
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4
Q

consequentialism

A

any action would be either morally right or good depending on the outcome.
the consequences of an action that make it either right or wrong

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5
Q

consciousness/welfarism

A

Things are morally right/wrong solely because of their effects on conscious beings who care about how they feel / what happens.
some argue that in a universe without consciousness, it wouldn’t matter what happened as things only matter because of their place in the lives of conscious beings

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6
Q

impartiality

A

All conscious beings are to be included when we are considering the effects of an action and none have any more/less importance than any other.
each persons interests are to be weighed equally.

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7
Q

maximisation

A

The morally right action is the action that maximises overall/total utility and it doesn’t matter how that utility is distributed.

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8
Q

Bentham

A

quantitative hedonistic utilitarianism and utility calculus

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9
Q

hedonistic utilitarianism

A

the morally right action is the action that maximises the balance of pleasure over pain.

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10
Q

what are the 2 types of hedonism

A
  • psychological
  • ethical
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11
Q

psychological hedonism

A

only pleasure and pain motivates us

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12
Q

ethical hedonism

A

only pleasure has moral value and pain has moral disvalue

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13
Q

what is the principle of utility

A

the good or right action is the action that increases pleasure or happiness and decreases pain or unhappiness.

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14
Q

hedonistic utilitarianism

A

an act is morally right IFF doing it produces at least as much pleasure or hapless as any other act that could be performed.

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15
Q

what does Bentham only focus on

A

he doesn’t make any judgements over the value of the actions and only focuses on:
- the quantity of pleasures and pain and they can only be compared numerically.

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16
Q

how to compare and measure the quantity of pleasures

A

utility calculus

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17
Q

what does the utility calculus do

A

compare and measure different experiences of happiness

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18
Q

what are the 3 stages of benthams utility calculus

A
  • value
  • tendency
  • number
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19
Q

value

A

we must consider the value of any particular pleasures or pain:
- intensity
- duration
- certainty
- propinquity

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20
Q

tendency

A

we must consider the tendency that a particular type of action has to produce pleasure or pain:
- fecundity
- purity

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21
Q

number

A

we must consider the number of people that will feel pleasure or pain:
- extent

22
Q

intensity

A

how intense the pleasure or pain is

23
Q

duration

A

how long the pleasure or pain lasts

24
Q

certainty

A

how sure you are that the pleasure will occur as a result of the action (this will be based on knowledge of the past)

25
Q

propinquity

A

how close in time the pleasure is

26
Q

fecundity

A

how likely it is that the action will lead to more of the same sensation

27
Q

purity

A

how likely it is that it will not lead to kore of the opposite sensation

28
Q

stuart mills

A

qualitative hedonistic utilitarianism, higher and lower pleasures

29
Q

what does qualitative hedonistic utilitarianism’s believe in

A

the morally right action is the action that maximises the balance of pleasure over pain, taking the quality of the pleasures into consideration

30
Q

what does mill mean by ‘utility’

A

sensations of ‘higher quality pleasures’

30
Q

qualitative

A

pleasures is only to be measured based not only on its quantity bt also on the quality of pleasures. higher pleasures are worth more than lower pleasures when deciding how to act

31
Q

how did Bentham describe lower and higher pleasures

A

‘it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied’

32
Q

the 2 types of pleasures according to mills

A
  • higher pleasures
  • lower pleasures
33
Q

higher pleasures

A

pleasures that we do not share with animals such as philosophical debates, reading. more valuable pleasures

34
Q

lower pleasures

A

pleasures the we share with other animals such as the desire for food, drinking, intimate physical relationships.

35
Q

how to rank two different types of pleasures according to mills

A

the higher or lower pleasure test

36
Q

mills higher or lower pleasure test

A
  • take 2 pleasures A and B
  • if there be one to which all or almost all who have experience of both give a decided preference, irrespective of any feeling of moral obligation to prefer it, that is the more desirable pleasure.
  • if the pursuit of a pleasure will or at least likely to lead to a lot of heartache and dissatisfaction but we would still pursue it in reference to large amounts of another pleasure then we can also be sure that it is a higher pleasure.
    -Take two pleasures - A & B

Take those competently acquainted with both.
If they choose A despite:
-ANY quantity of B
-A coming with greater ‘discontent’

Then A is a ‘higher quality’ pleasure

37
Q

Mills ‘proof’ of the greatest happiness principle

A

P1: the only and best possible evidence for something being desirable is that it is desired. (the visibility analogy)

P2: each person desired their own happiness which is seen through psychological hedonism.
this would count as an a posteriori premise as we are aware it is the by experiencing and being aware of our own desires through introspection.

C1: therefore, (we have the best evidence we could have that) each persons happiness is desirable to them.

C2: therefore, happiness in general is desirable.
mills is assuming that if each persons happiness is desirable to them. then happiness over all people is desirable. this is because the ethical point of view s an impartial point of view. so if happens is good from the view of ethics, we should aim for there to be as much of it as possible.

P4: only happiness is desirable for its own sake.
“other things such as virtue, health, music, money can come to be desired for their own sake, but they then still are desired as parts of happiness.

P5: whatever is desirable for its own sake is morally valuable and so ought to be maximised.
mill seems to think that if happiness is the only thing that ought to be desired as an end in itself then this is a moral ‘ought’ meaning that it is morally right in order to maximise happiness.

C3: therefore, the right action is that action which tends to maximise the general happiness, which is of hedonistic utilitarianism.

38
Q

what type of argument is mills ‘proof’ of the greatest happiness principle

A

non-deductive

39
Q

the visibility analogy

A

the only proof capable of being given that an object is visible is that people actually see it. the sole evidence that something is desirable is that people do actually desire it

40
Q

nozick

A

nozick is an anti-utilitarian.
disagrees with the idea that pleasure and pain are the only things that motivate us (psychological hedonism) ad so disagrees with hedonistic utilitarianism as it is based on it.
-opposes both Bentham and mill.

41
Q

nozicks experience machine

A

P1: if happiness was the only thing desired for its own sake, then we would plug into the experience machine without any hesitation, assuming that it gives is more happiness than real life would.
P2: however, we would not plug into the experience machine without hesitation. this is due to the idea that:
- we want to be connected to reality and have true beliefs.
- we want to alter and create new reality ourselves
- we want to share reality with other people.

C1: therefore, happiness is not the only thing desired for its own sake. there are things other than happiness and pleasure that we desire, that matter to us (and not for the sake of happiness and pleasure

C2: therefore psychological hedonism is false.
P3: hedonistic utilitarianism is ultimately based on psychological hedonism. they think that the right action is the one that maximises happiness over pain because they think that only happiness has moral value (ethical hedonism) and they think this because they think that only happiness motivates us (psychological hedonism)
MC: therefore, hedonistic utilitarianism is false.

42
Q

experience machine (thought experiment)

A

a machine that could give yi any experience or a sequence of experiences you might desire. when connected to this experiment machine, you can experience the felt of pleasures of these things and how they feel ‘from the inside’.
the question is whether to enter it for the rest of your life.
upon entering, you will not remember having done this, so no pleasures will get ruined by realising they are machine produced.
it questions “do our internal feelings matter to us?”
we care about more than just how things feel to us from he inside and there is more to life than being happy. we care about what is actually the case. we want to be connected to reality and not live a delusion.

43
Q

preference utilitarianism

A

the morally right action is the action that maximises the satisfaction of preferences of conscious beings rather than happiness and pleasure

44
Q

non-hedonistic utilitarianism

A

preference utilitarianism

45
Q

preference based

A

what matters is whether things are the way that people prefer them to be, wether things align with their desires

46
Q

what does utility mean to preference utilitarians

A

preference/desire satisfaction

47
Q

does noziks experience machine object preference utilitarians

A

preference utilitarians do not focus on feelings of pleasure, rather they focus on the satisfaction of preferences.
this means that whether people should be plugged in depends on whether doing it maximises the satisfaction of preferences.

48
Q

when is a preference satisfied

A

when a state of affair is brought about, not just by thinking that it has occurred
e.g. my preference that England wins the World Cup will be satisfied if they actually do win, not just by thinking they have.

49
Q

how to see how important the preference is to peoplele

A

preference utilitarians take into account the intensity/magnitude of the preference when doing the calculation. they want to know not just what people prefer, but how important it is to them

Philosophy (31 decks)

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