john stuart mommy issues

Question 1

bentham and his takes

Answer 1

• humans have two masters: pain & pleasure
• ethical caveat → when choices affect others

Question 2

felicific calculus

Answer 2

method of quantifying the amount of pleasure and pain

Question 3

how is happiness measured (4/7 factors)

Answer 3

• intensity
• duration
• certainty
• propinquity (proximity)
• fecundity (some pleasures lead to more pleasures)
• impurity (ability to bring pain)
• effect on others

Question 4

mill’s induction

Answer 4

• induction → developing a theory
• deduction → testing an existing theory

Question 5

mill’s takes

Answer 5

• pro public education
• supported proportional income tax
• exempt the poor from paying taxes
• a high progressive tax disincentivizes work
• inheritance tax is fine cuz “equality of opportunity”
• supported aid for the disabled
• tax on luxury goods
• free market still need safeguards against exploitation

Question 6

difference between induction & deduction

Answer 6

induction → developing a theory
deduction → testing an existing theory

Question 7

problems w/ mill’s method

Answer 7

• production laws may not be fixed (technological advance cannot be predicted or assured)
• distribution cannot be neatly separated from production

Question 8

what similar belief did mill share with marx

Answer 8

we would reach a point with production that we don’t have scarcity –> now we can progress rather than just survive