Weaknesses

Question 1

Prediction

Answer 1

Requires us to predict the future to ascertain what the greater good will be

Question 2

Example of when prediction is risky

Answer 2

If a woman has an abortion for the sake of her career, she can’t guarantee that she won’t loose her job in the near future

Question 3

Happiness and pleasure are hard to measure

Answer 3

If I like kicking you but you like being kicked then who’s pain or pleasure is to be prioritised

Question 4

Kant would say that we should never use a person as a means to an end

Answer 4

But Bentham allows this is it results in the greatest good being achieved

Question 5

Mill criticises Bentham’s quantitative approach

Answer 5

Everybody’s rights should be protected by law otherwise it would end in the tyranny of the majority

Question 6

Hard to work out is your action is fully good + example

Answer 6

If you save a young boy from drowning, but he grows up to be a terrorist then was your action truly good because it resulted in greater pain in the future.

Question 7

Naturalistic fallacy

Answer 7

Just because something maximises pleasure does not mean it is fully good.