1 / 14

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism. Lecture 2 Dealing with uncertainty Utilitarianism and absolutism Utilitarianism and the good. Objections so far. Pig philosophy Motivationally too demanding Not enough time to calculate. Uncertainty.

ursa
Download Presentation

Utilitarianism

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Utilitarianism Lecture 2 Dealing with uncertainty Utilitarianism and absolutism Utilitarianism and the good

  2. Objections so far • Pig philosophy • Motivationally too demanding • Not enough time to calculate

  3. Uncertainty • Objection: Often uncertain of consequences, so can’t identify the action that maximizes happiness • Reply: In cases of uncertainty, choose the action that offers the best “prospect”

  4. Choosing the best prospect • Use degrees of confidence to assign probabilities to consequences • Weigh possible consequences by both probability and goodness

  5. Example • Options: • Spend small budget on medications (A) • Spend money on lottery tickets and winnings on medication (B) • B has a possible consequence that is very good, but its probability is very low • A is a better prospect than B

  6. Moral absolutism • Claims that morality absolutely prohibits certain actions, no matter how good their consequences • Example: inviolable rights • Utilitarian: rights are embedded in institutions • Is this good enough?

  7. Ex. 1: Sacrifice a healthy patient? • Absolutist: Utilitarian must say yes • Reply: no, because of long-term and indirect consequences • Medical rights thus function as good subordinate principles

  8. Ex. 2: Sacrifice a disaster victim? • Absolutist: Utilitarian must say yes • Reply: In unusual circumstances, yes is the right answer • Attachment to subordinate principles may make it feel wrong • It’s a case of choosing the lesser of 2 evils

  9. Ex. 3: Kill innocent person to save hostages? • Difference from example 2: human production of the greater evil • Absolutist: shows clearly that you bear a special responsibility for what you do, as opposed to what merely happens in consequence of what you do • Utilitarian must deny this

  10. Doctrine of negative responsibility • Statement: You are as responsible for any outcome you could prevent, and not merely those you directly bring about • Utilitarian endorses this • Absolutist denies it

  11. Ex. 4: Sophie’s Choice • Agent relative obligations and permissions? • Utilitarianism says no, except for subordinate principles • Nonconsequentialist can make room for these

  12. Ex. 5: Truman’s decision • Truman gave a consequentialist argument • This could be challenged • But absolutists could say that it was wrong even if it maximized human welfare

  13. Utilitarianism and the good • Happiness is a mental state, a quality of experience • Example: the deluded physician • Example: the experience machine

  14. Utilitarianism and the good (2) • Examples suggest that the good is more than a mental state • Can utilitarianism accommodate this? • Might have to abandon the ideal observer method • Might have to appeal to moral notions • This would depart from consequentialism

More Related