Deck 5: Using Your Reason, Part 1: Utilitarianism

Question 1

Discuss whether it is acceptable to lie if it eases suffering.

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

What is the difference between intrinsic and instrumental reasoning? Give an example.

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

Differentiate between a consequentialist and a utilitarian theory. Will Niccolò Machiavelli's theory be regarded as consequentialist or utilitarian?

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

What is Jeremy Bentham's "hedonistic calculus"? What might this device tell us about the Age of Reason and the type of arguments that would be considered important in such an age? Give an example of how to use the calculus.

Question 5

Explain the paradox of hedonism.

Question 6

In the movie Purge, on a specific date every year, all violence is allowed. The (supposed) benefit from the orgy of violence is that for the other 364 days of the year, life is peaceful and productive with no violent crimes. The majority benefits through the painful, terrifying deaths of a minority of the population. Discuss whether the killing of a few people under ritual circumstances provides benefits. Even if it somehow did, would it be the right thing to do?

Question 7

Why does Jeremy Bentham refuse to distinguish between the choice of going to the opera and drinking gin? What do you think would be the opinion of John Stuart Mill in this scenario?

Question 8

What were some of the points of Jeremy Bentham's moral theory that John Stuart Mill reconsidered in his formulation of utilitarianism?

Question 9

According to John Stuart Mill, how can we make a decision without knowing the consequences? Explain and discuss.

Question 10

What is the harm principle? Explain with an example.

Question 11

Explain the general idea of the naturalistic fallacy and how it relates to utilitarianism.

Question 12

What constitutes (and what does not constitute) "harm" for John Stuart Mill? How might this relate to the debate about freedom of speech?

Question 13

Critics of the harm principle sometimes argue that the line between direct and indirect harm is blurred. Discuss this and illustrate their point with an example.

Question 14

How would a utilitarian respond to the suggestion that alien beings would be allowed to abduct involuntary human subjects for lethal medical experiments provided that they give humanity a cure for all viral diseases, including AIDS? Evaluate the answer from the standpoint of an act utilitarian and a rule utilitarian.

Question 15

Evaluate the following statement from a utilitarian point of view: "Tests are causing suffering to students, and professors always complain about having to grade tests, so tests should be abolished."

Question 16

Evaluate Descartes's theory that only those beings with minds can suffer, and only human beings have minds. Explore the possible consequences for a moral theory if we agree that animals, including human beings, have the capacity for suffering.

Question 17

Do you agree with John Stuart Mill that "A being of higher faculties requires more to make him happy . . . than one of an inferior type"? What does Mill mean by "inferior"?

Question 18

If you were a citizen of Omelas and were shown the child in captivity, would you stay and accept the lesson about the price of happiness, or would you walk away from Omelas? Explain.

Question 19

Do you find John Stuart Mill's harm principle attractive or problematic? Explain why. Discuss the application of the harm principle to one of the following issues: drug laws, helmet laws, or prostitution.

Question 20

Discuss the permissibility of torture with respect to the utilitarian approach. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Question 21

Do you think that people who lie more often see themselves as lying for selfish reasons or utilitarian reasons? Can a person's reasons for lying be both selfish and utilitarian at the same time?

Question 22

Discuss the opening scene of the film Extreme Measures. Did Guy Luthan make the right professional and moral choice? Should there be a difference? Explain your position.

Question 23

In the film Extreme Measures, is Dr. Myrick's experimentation a noble quest in order to help humanity or a perverse abuse of human beings? Is there a third alternative? Explain your position.

Question 24

In the movie Outbreak, Ford acts as a co-conspirator by acting on the orders of his superior officer. Can his actions be defended? Why or why not?

Question 25

Explain the elements of utilitarianism that exist in the film Outbreak.

Question 26

What is the paradox of hedonism?

A) You can never have too much pleasure.
B) You cannot love more than one person at the same time.
C) You must find pleasure in your own company before you can find pleasure in the company of others.
D) The harder you look for pleasure, the more it is likely to elude you.

Question 27

Which of the following statements would utilitarianism agree to?

A) It is always morally praiseworthy to disregard one's own interests for the sake of other people.
B) The end justifies the means.
C) God determines the ultimate values of good and evil.
D) Might makes right.

Question 28

Which of the following is the best utilitarian defense of torture?

A) It is better for the many to perish in the name of fairness.
B) It emphasizes the rights of the few over the safety of the many.
C) It might prevent much greater death or destruction.
D) It might create a "blowback" of retaliation or revenge.

Question 29

John Stuart Mill disagrees with Jeremy Bentham by claiming that

A) the principle of utility is the one universal moral principle.
B) the greatest happiness principle is the one universal moral principle.
C) there are qualitative differences between pleasures.
D) there are quantitative differences between pleasures.

Question 30

There seem to have been several factors at play in young John Stuart Mill's breakdown, other than his own insistence that he was disappointed with Jeremy Bentham's utilitarian theory. Which one is NOT discussed in the text?

A) He was overworked.
B) He was lonely and depressed.
C) He felt guilty for being in love with a married woman.
D) He was an intellectual in a feeling-oriented age.

Question 31

Utilitarianism may agree to animal experiments under certain circumstances. Which is the most likely circumstance?

A) whenever there are no obligations to consider the pain of nonrational creatures
B) whenever it creates the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people
C) whenever we can determine that the suffering of the animal is minimal
D) whenever there is a large amount of happiness at stake in terms of profit for the doctors, the university, or business

Question 32

How does John Stuart Mill propose to determine which pleasures are higher and which are lower?

A) by taking a poll in a local region
B) by selecting answers from people capable of appreciating higher pleasures and having no experience with lower pleasures
C) by asking people who have experience with both kinds of pleasure
D) None of the answers is correct because Mill argued that all pleasures count equally.

Question 33

Who wrote the following words? "Capacity for the nobler feelings is in most natures a very tender plant, easily killed, not only by hostile influences, but by mere want of sustenance."

A) Jeremy Bentham
B) Peter Singer
C) Harriet Taylor
D) John Stuart Mill

Question 34

According to John Stuart Mill, interfering with other people's lives is only legitimate

A) if it prevents harm to others.
B) if they intend to harm themselves.
C) if one possesses relevant knowledge about the welfare of those people that is unavailable to them.
D) None of the answers is correct because Mill thought there were no legitimate reasons to interfere with other people's lives.

Question 35

According to John Stuart Mill, what kind of harm qualifies as the criterion for intervention by the government?

A) direct harm to others
B) indirect harm to others
C) direct harm to oneself
D) None of the answers is correct because Mill thought there was no legitimate reason for the government to interfere with people's lives.

Question 36

What is act utilitarianism?

A) the same as rule utilitarianism: the consequences of any type of act (rule) are what count
B) the same as Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism: the consequences of any single act are what count
C) the opposite of passive utilitarianism
D) the part of utilitarianism that allows you to think of yourself only

Question 37

Which of the following is a statement by John Stuart Mill?

A) "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure."
B) "It is in vain to talk of the interest of the community, without understanding what is the interest of the individual."
C) "A being of higher faculties requires more to make him happy, is capable probably of more acute suffering, and certainly accessible to it at more points, than one of an inferior type."
D) "The said truth is that it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong."

Question 38

In The Blacksmith and the Baker, the judge pronounces a sentence. What is his justification?

A) The baker is guilty and must be punished.
B) The blacksmith's crime was unintentional; therefore, he cannot be punished.
C) The blacksmith must be punished for his crime, and nobody can take his place.
D) The baker can be punished even if he is innocent because he is expendable, but the blacksmith is not.

Question 39

In The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan tells Alyosha about an incident involving a small child. Which of the following is it?

A) The child is kept in a basement so that the city may prosper.
B) The child is torn apart by hounds on the order of a general.
C) The child is accused of murdering Ivan's father.
D) The child is saved from drowning by the dogs belonging to a general.

Question 40

What is the moral issue raised in the film Extreme Measures?

A) whether it is morally acceptable to sacrifice a few homeless people in order to advance the research in spinal cord injuries
B) whether it is morally acceptable to falsify medical research in order to gain influence for the greater good
C) whether it is morally acceptable to transplant animal organs into human beings without informing the human subjects
D) whether it is morally acceptable to perform cloning of humans

Question 41

The principle of utility is the same as the greatest happiness principle.

Question 42

Any theory concerned with the consequences of our actions is a utilitarian theory.

Question 43

The amygdala is the pleasure center of the human brain.

Question 44

Jeremy Bentham said that what is good is what is pleasurable, and what is bad is what is painful.

Question 45

Jeremy Bentham's interest in moral theory was primarily theoretical.

Question 46

Instrumental value refers to valuing something in itself without regard to what it might bring of further value.

Question 47

One of the reasons for Jeremy Bentham donating his body to medical research was to put a stop to body snatching.

Question 48

Jeremy Bentham believed that pleasure is intrinsically valuable.

Question 49

Pleasure cannot have both intrinsic and instrumental value at the same time.

Question 50

A being that cannot feel pain is more likely to survive and propagate.

Question 51

Niccolò Machiavelli's theory that if the end is to maintain political power for oneself, one's king, or one's political party, that will justify any means one might use for that purpose, such as force, surveillance, or even deceit, is both a consequentialist as well as a utilitarian theory.

Question 52

The hedonistic calculus is a method by which we calculate the utility of an action according to its ability to produce pleasure or prevent pain.

Question 53

One of the arguments against the hedonistic calculus is that it promotes selfish interests.

Question 54

One of the arguments against the hedonistic calculus is that it is biased in favor of our choice of values.

Question 55

René Descartes argued that animals cannot feel pain, because they have no mind.

Question 56

Even though René Descartes never owned a pet, he was sensitive to the suffering of animals.

Question 57

John Stuart Mill claims that utilitarianism fails because the common experience of humanity is not reliable.

Question 58

For Jeremy Bentham, the criterion for who belongs in the moral universe is who can suffer.

Question 59

Utilitarianism is against any form of animal experiments because experiments cause suffering to animals.

Question 60

Utilitarianism might allow for using human suffering as a means of entertainment if the happiness produced outweighs the suffering.

Question 61

The legality and morality of torture depend greatly on the definition of the term.

Question 62

The philosopher Epicurus was the godfather of John Stuart Mill.

Question 63

John Stuart Mill claims that something is pleasurable if it is desired.

Question 64

John Stuart Mill reached a crisis when he realized that making everyone else happy does not necessarily make oneself happy.

Question 65

The harm principle states that adult persons should not be interfered with, unless they are doing harm to others or themselves.

Question 66

The naturalistic fallacy attempts to step from "is" to "ought," that is, it proceeds from what people actually do to a rule that states what people ought to do.

Question 67

Both John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor believed that women have a right to employment regardless of their marital status.

Question 68

John Stuart Mill is today recognized as the first influential male speaker for political equality between men and women in modern Western history.

Question 69

John Stuart Mill believed that whole populations could not be trusted to govern themselves because they were not sufficiently mature.

Question 70

Act and rule utilitarianism both say that when you do something you should maximize happiness and minimize unhappiness for all those affected.

Question 71

In the Primary Readings section, Jeremy Bentham declares the interest of the community to be of less importance than the interest of the individual.

Question 72

In the Primary Readings section, John Stuart Mill claims that happiness is the same as contentment.

Question 73

Utilitarians are hard universalists in the sense that they believe there is a single universal moral code, which is the only one possible, and everyone ought to realize it.

Question 74

The film Outbreak (Warner Brothers, 1995) is a medical thriller that pits concern for the safety of the many against the rights of the few.

Question 75

Peter Singer argues that human "dignity" is a crucial concept in utilitarian decisions.

Question 76

In The Blacksmith and the Baker, an innocent baker is being executed for the crime of the blacksmith.

Question 77

In The Brothers Karamazov, Alyosha would not consent to the torture of a small creature for the sake of human happiness.

Question 78

In "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," the happiness of the community is based on a nonhuman animal being tortured.

Question 79

In the film Extreme Measures, the famous Dr. Myrick argues that even though homeless people may not be pillars of society they still have rights, and nobody should be used for medical experiments against their will even though it may be for the common good.