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KIN 401 > Utilitarianism > Flashcards

Utilitarianism Flashcards

1
Q

3 types of utilitarianism:

A
  • act utilitarianism
  • rule utilitarianism
  • preference utilitarianism
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2
Q

AU:

A
  • consequentialist
  • maximize the good
  • total up the positives and subtract the negatives
  • whatever action produces the highest score is the one you ought to take
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3
Q

In AU, one action isn’t just ____ ____, it is _____.

A
  • less good

- unethical/wrong

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4
Q

AU looks to maximize:

A
  • happiness
  • well-being
  • goodness
  • pleasure
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5
Q

Hedonist AU maximizes…

A

pleasure

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6
Q

Hedonic (Bentham’s Felicific) Calculus 7 criteria:

A
  • duration
  • intensity
  • propinquity (near or remote)
  • extent (how widely it covers)
  • certainty
  • purity (free from pain)
  • fecundity (lead to further pleasure)
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7
Q

What can be a 8th aspect added to the 7 criteria?

A

quality of pleasure

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8
Q

Give an example of using higher quality pleasure for justification:

A

not starving is a higher quality pleasure than running a business (stealing loaf of bread)

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9
Q

RU addresses concerns with…

A

AU

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10
Q

RU:

A
  • devise rules that when everyone follows them create the greatest good
  • each rule is evaluated like each act: there can be only one
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11
Q

Discuss the organ transplant problem with AU:

A
  • killing one person to take organs for 5 people

- pleasure for 5 trumps pleasure for 1

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12
Q

Discuss the organ transplant problem with RU:

A
  • generalize from specific to generic, create a rule that covers all
  • ex. always harvest organs when better for more people
  • ex. never harvest organs
  • what is everyone dies from illness from one person’s organs?
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13
Q

Quality argument for organ transplant problem:

A

won’t save innocent people vs won’t kill innocent people

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14
Q

Discuss robbing a bank with RU:

A
  • you go to jail but many people get money
  • we aren’t happier as a society overall
  • people that have negative bank accounts is less than 50%
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15
Q

Discuss the trolley problem with AU:

A
  • you should save 4 guys over 1
  • if all 5 people are the same, pull the lever
  • if one guy is a saint, then that can change
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16
Q

Discuss the trolley problem with RU:

A
  • generate some rules
  • ex. always pull levers when you can kill less people (doing something to kill)
  • ex. always pull levers when you can save more people (doing something to save)
17
Q

AU allows us to consider _____ whereas RU doesn’t.

A

specifics

18
Q

____ can collapse into ____. Some argue there is no such thing as ____ then.

A
  • RU
  • AU
  • RU
19
Q

Some say ____ is too specific and too many consequences have to be considered. ____ is better because it covers all instances.

A
  • AU

- RU

20
Q

Discuss stopping at a red light while rushing someone to the hospital with AU.

A

probably should do it if this saved the person’s life and didn’t kill anyone else in the process

21
Q

Discuss stopping at a red light while rushing someone to the hospital with RU.

A

Probably not because running red lights when you have somewhere more important to be is not a rule that would make the world better if everyone adopted

22
Q

One problem with AU and RU is that they only count …

A

actual or expected consequences

23
Q

Discuss the peeping Tom example with AU.

A
  • is your welfare decreased more than the peeping Tom’s is increased?
  • what if you didn’t notice?
  • peeping tom is ethical
24
Q

Discuss the peeping Tom example with RU.

A
  • is this a rule we can set for everyone?
  • he gets pleasure seeing you undress, but you don’t get any negatives
  • you should never look out the window
  • always have lights on, windows open
  • peeping tom is ethical
25
Q

PU:

A
  • what really matters is that we have our preferences met
  • the best judge of what is good and bad for a given individual is his or her preferences
  • must be self-regarding, intrinsic desires/preferences
26
Q

Discuss the peeping tom example with PU:

A
  • we prefer to have privacy, regardless of whether we actually know the peeping tom is there
  • not a expected outcome, can’t be upset over something we don’t know about
  • unethical, because they frustrate our preference for privacy
27
Q

Discuss this with AU, RU, and PU. “Should I lie to win the game?”

A
  • AU: lie if winning produces more welfare
  • RU: lie only if you’re sure you won’t get caught and pleasure is increased
  • PU: lying frustrates athletes’ desire to win honestly. So never lie
28
Q

5 critiques of utilitarianism:

A
  • impossible to apply
  • threat to close friends and family
  • too demanding
  • too permissive
  • doesn’t take equality seriously
29
Q

How is utilitarianism impossible to apply?

A
  • how to measure all of the consequences?

- practical/technical problems

30
Q

How is utilitarianism a threat to close friends and family?

A
  • should you trade in your friends for better ones?
  • friendships could be bad
  • inconsistent application of utilitarianism
31
Q

How is utilitarianism too demanding?

A
  • only one right choice, all others are wrong
  • strict vs unreasonably strict demands
  • ex. giving to charity: give to charity, give all your wealth to charity are both wrong. Rob a bank and give that money as well is correct
32
Q

How is utilitarianism too permissive?

A
  • only consequences matter
  • the act itself is neither right or wrong
  • actively knowingly killing an innocent could be the morally correct thing to do if the right consequences apply
33
Q

What would a utilitarian say about slavery?

A

if it can produce more happiness, you have to do it. It is ethically correct

34
Q

_____ and utilitarianism don’t go together.

A

fairness

35
Q

How does utilitarianism not take equity seriously?

A
  • can justify slavery if it makes society better off

- if all the factors were considered over the long term, no defence of slavery can be mounted, but this isn’t possible

36
Q

______ don’t matter for utilitarians, so…

A
  • motives

- trying to harm someone and accidentally helping them means you were ethical

37
Q

PU can promote ____ even ____ _____ behaviours.

A
  • selfish
  • self-damaging
  • ex. prefer to be lazy or to eat junk food

KIN 401 (16 decks)

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