Utillitarianism

Question 1

Teleological

Answer 1

Teleological ethics focus on the consequences/result which any action might have

Question 2

Deontological

Answer 2

In deontological ethics the rightness or wrongness of an action is vital to the act

Question 3

Utilitarianism

Answer 3

a theory of morality that advocates actions that foster happiness or pleasure and oppose actions that cause unhappiness or harm

Question 4

Hedonic calculus

Answer 4

A method of working out the sum total of pleasure and pain produced by an act, and thus the total value of its consequences

Question 5

Act utilitarianism

Answer 5

This form of utilitarianism Considers considers the consequence of each individual action

Question 6

Rule utilitarianism

Answer 6

Considers the consequences of past actions to form a rule to guide the present action

Question 7

Jeremy Bentham

Answer 7

One of the founders of utilitarianism, he believed happiness was the supreme ethical value

Question 8

John Stuart Mill

Answer 8

A follower of Bentham who rejected the quantitative approach to pleasure

Question 9

Quantity of pleasure

Answer 9

The amount of pleasure that can be calculated when making a moral decision

Question 10

Quality of pleasure

Answer 10

The standard of pleasure. In other words - not how much pleasure but how good it is

Question 11

Higher pleasure (Stuart mills idea)

Answer 11

Pleasures of the mind
E.g. art, education and literature

Question 12

Lower pleasure (Stuart mills idea)

Answer 12

Pleasures of the body
E.g. food, sex and sleep

Question 13

Greatest happiness principle (principle of utility)

Answer 13

Actions that produce the most happiness are seen as the best course of action

Question 14

Utility

Answer 14

Greatest amount of happiness

Question 15

Preference utilitarianism

Answer 15

We should act to maximise people’s preferences (even if these preferences do not maximise pleasure and minimise pain)

Question 16

7 criteria of felicific calculus

Answer 16

• intensity
• duration
• certainty
• propinquity
• fecundity
• purity
• extent

Question 17

Intensity

Answer 17

The less intense the pleasure of an action - the less valuable that action is
(Vice versa)

Question 18

Duration

Answer 18

Short lasting pleasure = less value
Long lasting pleasure from the act = highly prefered

Question 19

Certainty

Answer 19

How likely a certain action will cause a certain action
An action which might cause pleasure is less valued then one which will definitely cause pleasure

Question 20

Propinquity

Answer 20

How long will it take for the pleasure of the action to take effect?
The more distant the benefits in time = less valued

Question 21

Fecundity

Answer 21

If the happiness that an act causes is likely followed by more happiness then the action is better then a similar act that will only cause one instance of happiness - likewise with pain
** Basically how many times the pain or pleasure will occur**

Question 22

Purity

Answer 22

An act that causes only pleasure is better than one that causes the same amount of pleasure mixed with a little pain.
If the pleasure/pain is at its extremes it is more pure but when pleasure is mixed with pain the purity is less

Question 23

Extent

Answer 23

The more people enjoy the pleasure, the better