PHILOS 2YY3 Lecture : Utilitarianism
11 Feb 2012
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Document Summary
The right act is the act that brings about the best consequences overall; a teleological theory. Principle of utility: actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. (158) Bentham: pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things desirable as ends. Some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and valuable than others (we should ask a competent judge ) Most utilitarians focus on happiness but differ on what happiness is. Principle of impartiality: everyone s happiness counts the same. Principle of utility is the criterion of right not motive: The motive has nothing to do with the morality of the action. (the motive, however, can be how we judge the persons character, just not their action) Criterion of right is the criterion by which you decide if an action is right or wrong. We re never going to achieve the greatest happiness .
