Key Thin and Thick Questions
Thin Questions:
1. When was utilitarianism
originated?
2. Who were two of the major figures
associated with the philosophy?
3. According to utilitarianism, an
action is moral if…
Notes
Utilitarianism – school of philosophy
* Began 1800’s
* John Stuart Mill
* Jeremy Benthem
KEY IDEAS:
1. What is pleasurable (what makes you happy) is good.
2. A Moral action creates more pleasure than pain for everyone
involved.
4. What is deontology?
3. Morality/Ethics should be studied like a science.
5. Utilitarian philosophers believe
ethics should be studied like a what?
6. What does consequentialism
mean?
7. What is deontology?
4. Requires objectivity. No one life is worth more than any other
life.
5. ACTIONS ARE MORAL BASED on POTENTIAL
CONSEQUENCES, NOT SOME TAUGHT RIGHT OR
WRONG. Ex. Killing can be good if the consequences benefit
a great number of people. (ex. Hiroshima)
Thick Questions:
1. Why might this philosophy started
in the 1800’s?
2. How is this philosophy connected
to democracy?
3. In making a moral decision, what
process would a utilitarian go
through?
4. Based on Benthem’s calculator,
can an action be immediately
pleasurable but ultimately not ethical
– why and how?
OPPOSITE OF UTILITARIANISM = DEONTOLOGY (how moral an
action is depends on whether it follows a right/wrong law/rule that is set
for a long time).
BENTHEM’s HEDONISTIC CALCULATOR – a felicific action benefit
the greater good. Measures pleasure based on…
Intensity
Duration
Immediacy
Purity (how much pain will it cause others)
Fecundity (does it lead to other pleasure)
Certainty
Extent (how many people affected)
5. What is an example of a utilitarian
rule/law in the United States?
Summary