Try to answer these questions in as
much detail as possible. As you study, use the text, but make sure that
you can put the arguments of the text in your own words. Make sure that
you understand the arguments. It is impossible to overestimate the value
of discussing these questions with others in the class once you have composed
your own answers independently. Additionally, make sure that you can answer the
reading questions posted on the web site.
1. What is utilitarianism?
2. What is "the principle of
utility"?
3. Ethical hedonism is the view that pleasure
is the only thing worth pursuing.
Psychological hedonism is the view that we can only pursue pleasure
(i.e., if anyone ever makes a deliberate choice, it must be according to
pleasure). Mill is clearly an ethical
hedonist. Is he a psychological
hedonist as well?
4. Why does Mill maintain that the principle
of utility cannot be proved?
5. What is the fundamental difference between
Kant's focus and the focus of the utilitarians?
6. List and explain Mill’s criticisms of
Kant’s theory of morality.
7. How would Kant criticize Mill’s theory of
morality?
8. How would each of the philosophers we have
studied so far deal with the following dilemma? We can save 50 people by sacrificing 1 (for whatever reason –
we’re in a lifeboat, the one person will be eaten, whatever). Ought we to do it? Make sure you detail the arguments that each philosopher would
make.
9. What kinds of arguments would Kant accept
in favor of or against the death penalty?
What arguments would be unacceptable?
10. What kinds of arguments would Kant accept
in favor of or against the death penalty?
What arguments would be unacceptable?
Mill
gives (and tries to answer) nine objections to Utilitarianism. I’ll leave you to work out the ones not
mentioned.
11. The second objection to
utilitarianism is that it prescribes a life which is suitable to beasts. What is the basis of this worry? How does Mill respond to this problem? What is the distinction between the higher
and the lower pleasures? What does it
mean to say that the higher are qualitatively superior to the lower? What is
Mill’s evidence for this claim? Does
this distinction solve the problem?
12. The third objection to
utilitarianism is that happiness is unattainable and that it is even
incompatible with nobility. How does
Mill respond to this set of issues?
What are the chief kinds of happiness?
What are some causes of happiness?
Why does Mill say, “the conscious ability to do without happiness gives
the best prospect of realizing such happiness as is attainable”? What is the implication of this?
13. The fourth objection is that
utilitarianism is too demanding. What
is the basis of this objection? How
does Mill respond to it? What is it
that utilitarianism is meant to evaluate?
What does the objection presuppose about utilitarianism that Mill
denies? How ought a person to go about
living on Mill’s view of utilitarianism?
How should he relate to friends, relatives and those who are remote from
him? How ought a person behave with
regard to ordinary commonsense moral rules?
How are these rules to be evaluated?
Who should do the evaluating?
14. The seventh objection is that
utility will require that one break the rules of ordinary morality whenever it
is expedient. Why might this be
true? Why is this a problem? How does Mill respond to this? What is the importance of following ordinary
moral rules? Are there any exceptions
to moral rules? What is the principle
by which exceptions are determined and evaluated and determined?
15. The eighth objection is that
utility requires too much calculation of consequences. Why would this be true? How does Mill respond to this? Why are subordinate rules so important for
Mill? How do they come about? How are they to be evaluated? What reason do we have for confidence that
these rules generally work for the general benefit? What is the analogy that Mill uses to defend the use of
subordinate principles?
16. What might Mill say about environmentalist
concerns. There are many things that we
are doing today which may not affect us very much, but will likely have an
effect upon subsequent generations.
Consider also the fact that we have a growing population.
17. The ninth objection is that utilitarians
will tend to make exceptions to rules in a way that is biased in their own
favor. How does Mill respond to
this? Is this problem unique to
utilitarianism? What is it about
persons that contributes to this? How
can utilitarianism contribute to the solution of this problem? Why is utilitarianism superior to all other
approaches to moral theory on this account?
18. What is the relationship between Kant’s and
Mills moral theories, their metaphysics, and their philosophies of science?
19. What is the only unqualifiedly good thing
for Kant? What does he mean by
this? Why isn't happiness unqualifiedly
good? What are examples of things that
depend for their goodness on other things?
Why should reason only be concerned with this goodness of the will itself?
20.What kinds of actions have moral worth for
Kant? Why does he think this? What is a sense of duty? What is inclination? Discuss Kant's four examples of actions that
may or may not have moral worth. Do you
agree with his assessment? Make up examples
of your own.
21. Why does Kant think that moral principles
cannot be derived from experience? What
implications does this have for how we ought to study morality?
22.What is a rational being for Kant? What is a will? What is an imperative?
What kind of will does it apply to? What are objective and subjective
necessity? What are some examples of imperatives?
23.What’s the difference between a
hypothetical and categorical imperative?
24.Why is there only one categorical
imperative? What is the one and only
categorical imperative?
25.Discuss the second formulation of the
Categorical Imperative. How does Kant
argue for this formulation? He claims
that it is equivalent to the first formulation. Think about the four examples with the help of this
formulation. Do you agree with his
application?
26.Why does Kant think that a rational will
must conceive of itself as a free will?
What are the two different concepts of freedom? How does Kant link up the idea of a free
will with the idea of morality? Is this
reasoning circular? Why or why not?
27.What does Mill think of
self-sacrifice? Compare/Contrast this
with Kant’s view.
28.Whose happiness does Utilitarianism set as
its standard?
29.Explain the relationship between happiness
and virtue in Mill’s account.
30.In 12 Angry men, how did the jurors treat the
defendant as means only? How did the
jurors treat each other as means only?
(Be specific.) Can you use one
of these examples to explain the equivalence of the 2nd and 1st
formulations of the categorical imperative?
31. Suppose we could give people a drug that
prevented them from committing crimes by causing them, whenever they had a
criminal thought, to suffer temporary amnesia.
What would Kant say about this?
(Think about the 3rd formulation of CI.) What would Mill say about this?
32.What’s the difference between higher and
lower pleasures according to Mill? What’s
the standard? How can we tell the
difference between higher and lower pleasures?
Is Mill an elitist?
Please also remember to use your short essays (and short essay questions) as well as the other study guides as resources for the test.
Modified contributions from http://www.ets.uidaho.edu/mickelsen/squestions/sqmill.htm,
http://www.gened.arizona.edu/thomasc/study_questions.htm,
http://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/spr99/cs291/final.html,
http://www.csulb.edu/~dbrown/summer01/phil160/assignments/sq05.html