Jeremy Bentham (Utilitarianism)

Question 1

utilitarianism

Answer 1

the consequences of your actions are the ultimate determinant of the rightness or wrongness of them

Question 2

most widely cited work

Answer 2

Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

Question 3

what is he considered to be?

Answer 3

founder of the utilitarian school of philosophy

Question 4

what did he place a heavy emphasis on?

Answer 4

practicality of his philosophical ideas

Question 5

how did he view his application of utilitarian thought?

Answer 5

similar to applying newtons laws to the physical world

Question 6

teleological morals

Answer 6

if something is deemed “good”, as in it provides utility, then the right action in any situation is the one that brings the most “good”
what is right is determined by what is good

Question 7

deontological morals

Answer 7

what is right and what is good are defined independently
any moral system that rests on concepts such as natural law are deontological

Question 8

what does Bentham believe is the goal of the legislature?

Answer 8

increase pleasures and decrease pain

Question 9

why does he attack the English legal system

Answer 9

that don’t aim towards increasing pleasures

Question 10

what is he an advocate for?

Answer 10

legal positivism

Question 11

legal positivism

Answer 11

laws are socially constructed and mean what they are designed to mean

Question 12

how does Bentham view natural law?

Answer 12

device to express peoples preferences w/o a practical justification for it

Question 13

can rights exist w/o a legal system?

Answer 13

no

Question 14

what does the existence of the legal system imply?

Answer 14

rights are not natural

Question 15

what does he call the declaration of the Rights of a Man

Answer 15

a perpetual vein of nonsense, flowing from a perpetual abuse of words

Question 16

can existing laws serve individuals and have the society continue to stand?

Answer 16

yes

Question 17

what is important when codifying the law?

Answer 17

appeal logical principle, the greatest good for the greatest number

Question 18

The interest of a community is…

Answer 18

the sum of the interests of the several members who compose it

Question 19

how does he view pleasure?

Answer 19

things with tangible measurable properties

Question 20

what’s a weakness of his logic?

Answer 20

he doesn’t factor in variability

Question 21

Felicific Calculus

Answer 21

intensity
certainty
propinquity
fecundity
purity
extent

Question 22

intensity

Answer 22

absolute level of utility gained

Question 23

certainty

Answer 23

likelihood of utility being gained

Question 24

propinquity

Answer 24

temporal proximity of utility

Question 25

fecundity

Answer 25

chance of reproducibility

Question 26

purity

Answer 26

chance of not being followed by opposite thing

Question 27

extent

Answer 27

how many people are affected by an action

Question 28

what does Bentham argue about calculating your actions?

Answer 28

you should be able to precisely calculate the impact of your actions by measuring each of these variables

Question 29

Is utilitarianism liberal?

Answer 29

centered on individual - yes
community is just a collection of individuals - yes
politics is instrumental - yes mostly
government should be limited in scope - no
conception of freedom is negative - yes

Question 30

is he right about human motivation?

Answer 30

assumes psychological hedonism

Question 31

is the relationship between the good of an individual and the good of society clear?

Answer 31

argued that they match up pretty well

Question 32

does it protect from tyranny of the individual?

Answer 32

societies political good is most important

Question 33

how do you actually make the decision of what is politically good?

Answer 33

majorities can rule the day
can lead to bad outcomes for minority groups of any stripe