Exam 5: Consequentialist Theories: Maximize the Good

One of the criticisms of social contract theory is that it's doubtful that those who are supposed to be parties to the contract have actually given

Rule-utilitarianism has been accused of being internally inconsistent because the theory can

Utilitarianism reminds us that

To the classic utilitarian, ________ is the only intrinsic good.

Because people will renege on deals they enter, Hobbes believes that what is needed for enforcing the social contract is an absolute sovereign-a fearsome, powerful person he refers to as the

Rule-egoism says that to determine the right action you must apply the egoistic principle to individual acts.

John Stuart Mill says that humans by nature desire happiness and nothing but happiness; therefore happiness is the standard by which we should judge human conduct, and therefore the principle of utility is at the heart of morality. But this argument is controversial, because

According to social contract theory, morality comprises the social rules that are in everyone's best interests to heed.

Suppose you break your promise to visit your dying grandmother on the grounds that you can create more happiness by partying with your friends. This utilitarian view of the situation seems to conflict with our commonsense

Utilitarianism (in all its forms) requires that in our actions we always try to maximize utility, everyone considered. This requirement has given rise to

If, according to Jeremy Bentham, only the total quantity of happiness produced by an action matters, then the person closest to the moral ideal would be

Some critics of social contract theory argue that few people have ever actually consented to the terms of a social contract. Some defenders of social contract theory reply that people are much more likely to have given their

Commonsense morality makes a distinction between doing our duty and doing more than duty requires, what are called supererogatory actions. This distinction seems to disappear in