Deck 15: Contemporary Utilitarianism Julia Driver

Question 1

According to Driver, critics allege that utilitarianism runs counter to conventional thinking about

A) what we owe to our family and friends.
B) justice.
C) the demandingness of morality.
D) All of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Some utilitarians respond to worries about the compatibility of utilitarianism and justice by distinguishing between

A) the obligatory and the supererogatory.
B) act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism.
C) negative responsibility and integrity.
D) All of the above

Answer 2

B

Question 3

According to act-utilitarianism, conventional moral rules are

A) rules of thumb.
B) supererogatory.
C) morally irrelevant.
D) obligatory.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Rule-utilitarianism has been criticized for being

A) a form of rule worship.
B) inflexible.
C) a form of absolutism.
D) All of the above

Question 5

An action is supererogatory if it is

A) good and obligatory.
B) bad and forbidden.
C) good but not required.
D) bad in most cases but sometimes permissible.

Question 6

According to Driver, critics argue that utilitarianism is highly demanding because it conflates

A) negative responsibility and integrity.
B) the supererogatory and the obligatory.
C) impartiality and justice.
D) happiness and pleasure.

Question 7

Utilitarianism is committed to _______, the view that we can be held responsible for our failures to act as well as for our actions that directly cause harm.

A) positive responsibility
B) integrity
C) impartiality
D) negative responsibility

Question 8

According to Bernard Williams, utilitarianism fails to cohere with our views about

A) integrity.
B) happiness.
C) impartiality.
D) autonomy.

Question 9

Because of utilitarianism's commitment to _______, it seems that the special consideration we give to our loved ones may be morally unjustified.

A) integrity
B) negative responsibility
C) impartiality
D) maximizing happiness

Question 10

According to critics, utilitarianism is committed to viewing friendship as having _______ value.

A) no
B) instrumental
C) absolute
D) moral

Question 11

Critics claim that utilitarianism is unjust because it is committed to viewing a nonegalitarian state as morally superior to an egalitarian state, so long as the former contains more happiness overall.

Question 12

According to rule-utilitarianism, it would be wrong to sacrifice one innocent person to save a dozen.

Question 13

According to most philosophers, utilitarianism is more demanding than conventional morality.

Question 14

Bernard Williams's case of Jim is intended to show how utilitarianism is incompatible with our strongly held intuitions about justice.

Question 15

Peter Railton argues that utilitarianism is incompatible with giving special consideration to friends and family.

Question 16

Critics argue that utilitarianism runs counter to our intuitive notions regarding justice. Do you find this argument convincing? Why or why not?

Question 17

What is the difference between supererogatory and obligatory actions? Why do critics allege that utilitarianism conflates these two kinds of acts? Does this pose a serious problem for utilitarianism in your view? Why or why not?

Question 18

Describe Bernard Williams's case of Jim. Why, according to Williams, does this case pose a problem for utilitarianism? Do you agree that it does? Why or why not?

Question 19

Peter Railton claims that utilitarianism can accommodate the partiality we show to our family and friends. What is his argument for this claim? Is his argument persuasive? Why or why not?