What Philosophy Is

Eudaimonistic Utilitarianism

As you read the material for the next class, keep the questions below in mind. To answer these questions you will have to reflect critically on what you have read and possibly re-read important passages. Keep in mind that there are two basic kinds of information that you need to look for in the readings.

  1. What are the main points or conclusions that an author accepts with respect to a particular issue?
  2. What are the reasons or important considerations that lead the author to accept that conclusion?

For our purposes, it is information of the latter sort (2) that will be our primary concern since our most basic task is to evaluate the reasons that are offered to support accepting one possible conclusion about an issue, rather than another.

Although I strongly suggest that you write out brief answers to these questions, you do not have to turn in written responses. You do, however, need to be prepared to speak intelligently to these issues in the next class meeting. Also, it is reasonable to assume that the final exam’s questions will be drawn from these questions—particularly those in bold.

Readings:

  • John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism from Stephen M. Cahn (ed.), Philosophy for the 21st Century, pp. 575-579.
  • E.F. Carritt, “Criticisms of Utilitarianism” (handout).

Questions:

  1. How does John Stuart Mill define the “principle of utility”? He also claims that pleasures can be distinguished by quality as well as quantity. He then gives a test by which pleasures can be separated into higher and lower kinds. How does the test work? What makes the higher pleasures higher and the lower ones lower (apart from being the result of the test)? How does this justify the assertion that it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied? Who has moral status and therefore “counts” from the moral point of view according to Mill?
  2. In Chapter 4, Mill wants to prove “that happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable, as an end”. What does this mean and what method does Mill intend to use in order to justify this position? What are the various considerations that Mill defends in the course of supporting his position? How does Mill respond to the objection that other things are desirable besides happiness, like virtue?
  3. How would you describe Mill’s conception of happiness? Is happiness a subjective mental state or something else? Based on your answer to this question, is it subject to the Nozick’s “experience machine” criticism?
  4. E.F. Carrit’s claims that “in short, utilitarianism has forgotten rights”. How does he justify this claim? Is this damning to Mill’s theory or can the theory still have a real role for rights (especially since Mill wrote the famous On Liberty)?

 

I love Apache! So should you!