philosphy section 2 exam

jsut what i thought i need 2 no

what is the point of the organ harvesting thought experiment

to push you mind towards non consequentialism

what is the point of the underwater cave experiment

to push you towards consequentialism

who is Bentham and what specific idea did he support

founder of modern utilitarianism, had the simplest form of utilism quantitative hedonism

what is quantitative hedonism and who presented it

bentham idea that utility is meausres only by the amt of pleasure produced

What does Bentham think is the fundamental moral principle?

the priniple of utility which says that you should do whatever maximizes net utility for all affected

for bentham, is utilitarianism egoistic? is it subjective?

niether bc its abotu everyone arpund u net pleasure and not subjective bc pleasure is a fact

what does hedonism mean to bentham

pleaure (or absence of pain) is the only thing with intrinsic value

How does Bentham think we should decide how to act? What sorts of things does Bentham think we need to take into account?

he thinks we should take into account the seven circumstances of pleasure

what are the seven circumstances of pleasure

• (1) Intensity

• (2) Duration

• (3) Certainty/uncertainty (i.e., how likely the thing will produce pleasure)

• (4) Propinquity or remoteness (i.e., how accessible the pleasure is)

• (5) Fecundity (i.e., how likely it is to produce more of the same)

• (6) Purity (i.e., how likely it is to NOT produce its opposite sensation)

• (7) Extent (i.e., the number of people potentially affected by the thing)

What is Bentham’s argument in favor of the principle of utility?

Bentham suggests that people already assume and make use of the principle of utility, even when they are criticizing the principle.

who is Mill

defender of utilitatirism

how is mill util different that benthams?

mill uses the indirect argument for util. saying that proof is in the pudding, and also he makes a distinction between the qulity and quantly of pleasure arguing that people prefer intelliectual “higer pleasures” to senual body pleasure

who is Peter singer

famous contemporary utilitarian

what is marginal utility and who brought the concept up

Peter singer. he says we should give to the point of marginal utility meaning we should give until giving more would would not bring better consequences

what are the four objections singer addresses? and his responses?

1) A drastic revision(what he’s asking is outside of social norm): singer says iattck the arg bozo 2) too demanding (ppl say that he’s asking too much): singer says i’m not even asking utilitarianism also doesn’t address the arg. 3) we should not give privately (should be the gov): singer says your obligation is to do what is gonna help, so lobby the gov instead 4) effective population control (the problem is population so we should donate if its gonna happen again): singer says okay donate to population control

who is Williams

he offered an essential critique of utilitarianism (that it cannot acutely take into account the importance of integrity (which will lead us into he next section)

what is the doctrine of negative responsibility

the idea that you are JUST as responsible for things you fail to prevent as thing u actively bring about (Williams doesn’t fuck w this)

what would williams say of the George example

Williams says that he shouldn’t take the job bc its your fault if you make chemical weapons but not your fault if other ppl do (bc you’re a sprat person and bc of personal integrity)

what would Williams say about the Jim and Pedro case

Williams actually says that you should kill the one guy to save 20, but for other reasons bc you can get the right results for the wrong reasons and util doesn’t take into account the full moral story