PHILOS 2D03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Empiricism, Brain Death, Organ Donation
27 Feb 2017
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Act utilitarianism: moral decisions are those which maximize happiness and minimize unhappiness. Moral decision-making is exclusively concerned with the maximization of utility, or the minimization of disutility. Consequentialist the right way to behave is the way that will lead to the best consequences. Aggregative how actions affect everyone"s happiness; theory prohibits selfishness in moral decisions. Egalitarian everyone counts for one; no one"s happiness is worth more. Empiricist look to the facts of the world, rather than an abstract calculation detached from everyday reality. Pros & cons: - pros: forces people to think about consequences of their actions, rather than acting blindly; prevents selfish behaviour; does not depend on abstract considerations like god, etc. ; simply motivated by maximization of happiness; straightforward, common sense method of reaching ethical decisions. Cons: theory seems to ignore moral importance of special/intimate relationships; takes the prioritization of consequences too far; omits important/salient details that have to do with the past (i. e. southern sheriff example)
