Utilitarianism

Question 1

3 types of utilitarianism:

Answer 1

• act utilitarianism
• rule utilitarianism
• preference utilitarianism

Question 2

AU:

Answer 2

• 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

Question 3

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

Answer 3

• less good

- unethical/wrong

Question 4

AU looks to maximize:

Answer 4

• happiness
• well-being
• goodness
• pleasure

Question 5

Hedonist AU maximizes…

Answer 5

pleasure

Question 6

Hedonic (Bentham’s Felicific) Calculus 7 criteria:

Answer 6

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

Question 7

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

Answer 7

quality of pleasure

Question 8

Give an example of using higher quality pleasure for justification:

Answer 8

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

Question 9

RU addresses concerns with…

Answer 9

AU

Question 10

RU:

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Discuss the organ transplant problem with AU:

Answer 11

• killing one person to take organs for 5 people

- pleasure for 5 trumps pleasure for 1

Question 12

Discuss the organ transplant problem with RU:

Answer 12

• 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?

Question 13

Quality argument for organ transplant problem:

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Discuss robbing a bank with RU:

Answer 14

• 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%

Question 15

Discuss the trolley problem with AU:

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

Discuss the trolley problem with RU:

Answer 16

• 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)

Question 17

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

Answer 17

specifics

Question 18

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

Answer 18

• RU
• AU
• RU

Question 19

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

Answer 19

• AU

- RU

Question 20

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

Answer 20

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

Question 21

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

Answer 21

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

Question 22

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

Answer 22

actual or expected consequences

Question 23

Discuss the peeping Tom example with AU.

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Discuss the peeping Tom example with RU.

Answer 24

• 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

Question 25

PU:

Answer 25

- 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

Question 26

Discuss the peeping tom example with PU:

Answer 26

- 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

Question 27

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

Answer 27

- 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

Question 28

5 critiques of utilitarianism:

Answer 28

- impossible to apply - threat to close friends and family - too demanding - too permissive - doesn't take equality seriously

Question 29

How is utilitarianism impossible to apply?

Answer 29

- how to measure all of the consequences? | - practical/technical problems

Question 30

How is utilitarianism a threat to close friends and family?

Answer 30

- should you trade in your friends for better ones? - friendships could be bad - inconsistent application of utilitarianism

Question 31

How is utilitarianism too demanding?

Answer 31

- 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

Question 32

How is utilitarianism too permissive?

Answer 32

- 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

Question 33

What would a utilitarian say about slavery?

Answer 33

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

Question 34

_____ and utilitarianism don't go together.

Answer 34

fairness

Question 35

How does utilitarianism not take equity seriously?

Answer 35

- 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

Question 36

______ don't matter for utilitarians, so...

Answer 36

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

Question 37

PU can promote ____ even ____ _____ behaviours.

Answer 37

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