Utilitiarianism Relativism

Question 1

What is the ethical domain

Answer 1

- Right, wrong, and okay
• Distinguishing wrong and harm
• Separating goals from constraints
• Personal preference and ethics
• Law and ethics`

Question 2

When does a moral dilema

Answer 2

A moral dilemma occurs
whenever we must make a
decision and none of the
possible courses of action
open to us is entirely
satisfactory because each
violates a value we think
important.

Question 3

What is utilitarianism

Answer 3

Consequentialism
• The consequence of an action, not the motivation
behind the action, makes an action good or bad

Question 4

What does the phrase ‘humans are hedonist’ mean?

Answer 4

Humans naturally seek avoid pain and seek to increase pleasure.

Question 5

What is The Greatest Happiness Principle

Answer 5

“actions are right in proportion as they tend to
promote happiness, wrong as they tend to
promote the reverse of happiness.”

Question 6

What do Utilitarians focus on?

Answer 6

They focus on discovering which actions and policies will maximize the well-begin of the relevant group - the group that is affected by the action

Question 7

What is good

Answer 7

• to be desired of approved of

- that which is morally right

Question 8

Actual consequences vs foreseeable consequences

Answer 8

• we don’t have certaintainty about future events
• short term consequences can be very different from long term consequences.
• actual consequences maybe be different from the foreseeable consequences.
• you save a drowing baby but then 20 years later, the baby turns out to be adolf hitler.

Question 9

FORESEEABLE CONSEQUENCE

UTILITARIANS

Answer 9

• the theory is decision making procedure.
• the action with the highest expected utility is both rhe best thing to do based on the current eviedence and the right action.

Question 10

ACTUAL CONSEQUENCE

UTILITARIANS

Answer 10

• the theory is a criterion of right and wrong
• the option with the highest expected utility is the best thing to do, but they claim that it could still turn out to be the wrong action.

Question 11

What is act utilitarianism

Answer 11

The principle of utility - do whatever will produce the best overall results - should be applied on a case by case basis.
- looks at the consequences of each individual act and calc the utility each time the act is performed.

Question 12

Arguments against act utilitarianism

Answer 12

• the ‘wrong answers’ objection: if a doctor can kill one healthy person to use their organs and save the lives on 5 unhealthy people, the according to act utilitarianism the doctor should go ahead and do it.
• the ‘undermining trust’ objection: rigidity in rules create trust for people.
• the ‘partiality’ objection: the interest of people closest to us cannot receive more consideration than strangers.

Question 13

What is good;

Answer 13

According to hedonism: the only thing is good in itself is pleasure or happiness. These are ‘intrinsic’ goods meaning that they are good in themselves not because they are producing some further valuable thing.

Question 14

Whose well being:

Answer 14

• individual self interest
• groups
• everyone affected

Question 15

What is the difference between act util. and rule util.

Answer 15

the key difference between act and rule util is that act util apples the util principle to the evaluation of individual actions while rule util apple the util principle directly to the evaluation of rules and then evaluate individual actions by seeing if the obey or disobey those rules.

Question 16

Arguments for Act Util

Answer 16

• maximized utility because every action that is taken mazimizes utility.
• ## not based on rules (10 commandments)

Question 17

Response to criticism of act util

Answer 17

• they can argue that critici misinterpret act util and mistakenly claim that is commited to supporting the wrong answer to various moral questions.

Question 18

arguments for rule util

Answer 18

• maximizes utility because it follows rules for what is right and what is wrong. People are notoriouslt bad at judging what the best thing to do it and rules limit the person’s discretion.
• avoid the arguments against act util

Question 19

arguments against rule util

Answer 19

• the ‘rule worship’ objection: irrational supoort of rule-based actions in cases were more good can be done by avoiding the rule than than obeying it.
• the ‘collapse into act util’ objection: rules inevitably have exceptions. do x ecept when no doing x maximizes utility.
• wrong answers and crude concepts: punishing innocent persons is wrong only if not punishing innocent person would produce more utility.