Utilitarianism (Midterm 1) Flashcards
(34 cards)
Normative
What a society “ought” to be
Descriptive
What society is
Transcendent Interest
when one is willing to sacrifice his life if need be
Super arrogation
when one goes above and beyond the call of duty
Minimization of Death Principle
You ought to minimize deaths when you can
Teleology
The rightness of an action, law, or policy depends entirely on its consequences.
Consequentialism
Ends justify the menas
Deontology
the ends do not justify the means, moral code must be followed
Hedonic Calculus
Look at each of the available alternative actions, calculate its consequences for the pleasure of pain of everyone, and decide which produces the higher balance of pleasure over pain.
Hedonic Calculus helps you decide every single time what the right action is
What seven variables are taken into account when calculating hedonic calculus?
Intensity Duration Probability Propinquity Fecundity Purity Social Extent
Intensity
How intense the pleasure or pain is
Duration
How long the pleasure or pain lasts
Probability
What are the chances of this pleasure or pain actually happening
Propinquity
Nearness in time of the action
Fecundity
Brings about pleasure in its wake
Purity
Brings about pain in the wake
Social Extent
In the case of a tie, the one that spreads the wealth more widely among the greatest amount of people .
What is special about Bentham’s calculus?
It is non-elitist
Quantity is the only thing that matters
Pleasure of any suffering of any sentient being counts
It is determinant
Advantages of Utilitarianism
- Neutralistic
- Realistic
- Non-metaphysical
- Non-elitist
- Determinate in Principle
What do we want in a moral principle?
Objectivity
Universality
Determinacy
Motivational Force
A merely subjective standard invites
- intolerance and despotism
2. chaos and anarchy
Is happiness the sole value?
If happiness wasn’t, how else would we be able to adjudicate.
What does the argument by elimination claim?
We know it isn’t
- the argument of asceticism
- the argument of sympathy
so it must be 3. principle of utility
What are Bentham’s key features
- Right action is the action that maximizes the balance of pleasure over pain
- Neutralistic Theory: each counts for 1 and only
- Source of pleasure doesn’t matter
- Tradeoffs of costs to some for the gains to others are acceptable
- Values are homogenous
Difference between Bentham’s model and C/B analysis
- Cost / benefit doesn’t use the currency of pleasure / pain
- H/C takes everything into account while C/B is very specific
