3 - Hedonism

what is something with instrumental value?

something that is useful as a means to some further end / goal

what is something with intrinsic value?

something where its existence is an end/goal unto itself

What views are brought up when questioning what has intrinsic value?

Strong Anthropocentrism = View that only humans have intrinsic value

weak anthropocentrism = view that humans have significantly greater value than non-human things

what is consequentialism?

refers to a family of related views where at the core, the idea that ethical / normative properties depend only on consequences.

what is act consequentialism?

when an action is morally right if it maximizes the good

the greatest good for the greatest number. = increases overall NET good

what is “The Right”?

whatever choices increases The Good

In consequentialist views, what is pleasure regarded as?

The ONLY intrinsic good, and pain is the only intrinsic bad.

describe the universalist feature of utilitarianism

takes into account the interests of all those who are affected by an action, regardless of their nationality, gender, race, or other traits that we find, upon reflection, are not morally relevant

describe the welfarist feature of utilitarianism

defines what is ethically “good” in terms of people’s welfare (the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of poeple’s interests.

good health, job, friends → reduce to happy, painless life

describe the consequentialist feature of utilitarianism

evaluates the rightness/wrongness of an action by its consequences

• how much an action satisfies interests

describe the aggregative feature of utilitarianism

adds up interests of all those affected by an action.

• weighs intensity, duration, and number of interests affected by all possible actions

• = choose action w/ greatest net satisfaction of interests

  • greatest good for greatest number

what is Quantitative Hedonism?

offers simplest basic principles needed in order to decide what’s right.

increases good when increasing/maximizing pleasures

decreases/minimizing pains

what makes Hedonism attractive?

its simplicity!

• target for opposition

argument against Utilitarianism

the “philosophy of swine?”

• makes moral imperative out of indiscriminate pleasure seeking

• minecraft and smoking cigs = as morally good as poetry and philosophy

  • are all pleasures similarly valuable?

what is John Stuart Mill’s Qualitative Hedonism?

distinguishing higher and lower qualities of pleasure according to the preferences of people who have experienced both kinds

how do we rank or order different qualities of pleasure?

John Stuart Mill argues that the higher (more valuable) pleasure can be decided by competent judges