Utilitarianism

Question 1

The Hedonic Caculus includes:

Answer 1

Intensity, Duration, Certainty, Nearness, Fecundity, Purity, Extent

Question 2

Fecundity is?

Answer 2

How likely it is that the pleasure from an action will be followed by similar pleasures

Question 3

Nearness measures?

Answer 3

How close the pleasure is in time and space.

Question 4

Who believes in Rule Utilitarianism and what is it?

Answer 4

John Mill - higher and lower pleasures It’s qualitative.

Question 5

Is utilitarianism teleological or deontological?

Answer 5

Teleological

Question 6

Who believes in Act Utilitarianism and what is it?

Answer 6

Jeremy Bentham - Hedonic Calculus, quantitative

Question 7

Criticisms of Act Utilitarianism

Answer 7

Time and resource consuming.
Justifies any action.
Can be biased.
Not possible to assess every situation.
Difficult to take into account the effect on others/ in the long run.

Question 8

Criticisms of Rule Utilitarianism

Answer 8

Rules might be pointless or immoral.

Minorities aren’t accounted for.

Question 9

Hedonism

Answer 9

Bentham believes humans are motivated by pleasure

Question 10

Positives of Act Utilitarianism

Answer 10

Flexible - takes into account individual situations.

A good action is one that leads to the greatest good in that situation.

Question 11

Positives of Rule Utilitarianism

Answer 11

Leads to greatest result in the community.
Not as time consuming.
Still has absolute right and wrongs.

Question 12

Examples of higher pleasures

Answer 12

Pleasures that stimulate the mind: learning, art, literature, opera.

Question 13

Higher pleasures bring happiness?

Answer 13

In the long run

Question 14

Mill believed Bentham’s utilitarianism does what?

Answer 14

It reduces humans - he thinks we have more than basic animal instincts.

Question 15

Utilitarianism and religion both

Answer 15

Aim to maximise happiness and welfare for everyone.

Both aim to bring the ‘greatest’ happiness.

Question 16

Utilitarianism is different to religion

Answer 16

It has no rules.
It has no moral absolutes.
It’s teleological (Christianity is denteological)
Main goals are happiness and pleasure.
People have to be autonomous agents (eg. not a baby or a person in a coma)

Question 17

What is the utility principle created by Bentham?

Answer 17

The rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by it’s usefulness (the amount of happiness/pleasure caused by it) which he came up with when he realised that pleasure and pain were important for finding what is moral

Question 18

Who said ‘an action is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number’

Answer 18

Jeremy Bentham

Question 19

What principle do Act utilitarians use?

Answer 19

The principle of utility should be directly applied to every individual situation where possible

Question 20

Who said ‘human beings have faculties more elevated than animal appetites’

Answer 20

John Stuart Mill

Question 21

Who says ‘it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied’ and what does it mean

Answer 21

John Stuart Mill: it means that a higher pleasure is better than a lower, even if it might cause some dissatisfaction

Question 22

Who came up with preference utilitarianism?

Answer 22

The ethicist Peter Singer

Question 23

What is preference utilitarianism?

Answer 23

The best consequences means what furthers the best interests/preferences of those involved.

Question 24

How did philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre criticise utilitarianism?

Answer 24

He said that it could justify horrendous acts for the pleasure of many: eg. the persecution/extermination of Jews could be considered ‘good’ if the greater population found it pleasurable

Question 25

When can pain by considered good?

Answer 25

When training hard to excel in sport etc

Question 26

What did philosopher Henry Sidgwick reject Bentham’s view that people pursued their own pleasure for?

Answer 26

For ethical hedonism: people should seek general happiness

Question 27

Who said that it is quite compatible with the principle of utility that some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and valuable than others

Answer 27

John Stuart Mill

Question 28

Difficulties with Utilitarianism

Answer 28

• It relies on knowledge of consequences.
• Some pain is good for us and pleasure bad.
• problem of justice: how is pleasure distributed.

Question 29

Who said ‘nature has placed mankind under the governance of pain and pleasure’

Answer 29

Jeremy Bentham

Question 30

Who said that pleasure and pain ‘point out what we ought to do as well as determine what we shall do’

Answer 30

Jeremy Betham

Question 31

Why is Mill’s utilitarianism similar to rule

Answer 31

He believed in universalisability.
We all desire happiness.
It is the only desirable thing as an end.
Therefore everyone has to aim for the happiness of everyone.

Question 32

Why is Mill’s utilitarianism qualitative

Answer 32

It is focused on the value and nature of the pleasure

Question 33

When does Mill allow rules to be broken

Answer 33

In exceptional circumstances

Question 34

What is strong rule

Answer 34

Rules should never be disobeyed, it’s the individual’s duty to obey.
Absolute rules are considered good for the happiness of the community.

Question 35

What is weak rule

Answer 35

There should be generally accepted rules/guidelines but they shouldn’t be obeyed indefinitely

Question 36

How did Bentham show his utilitarianism is quantitative quote

Answer 36

‘The quantity of pleasure being equal, push-pin is as good as poetry’

Question 37

What is the example of sadistic guards

Answer 37

They torture someone innocent, causing one person’s pain and the pleasure for many.

Question 38

What is the one intrinsic good

Answer 38

Happiness/utility