POLS 351 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Experience Machine, Thought Experiment, Consequentialism

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Political Studies
• Course: POLS 351
• Professor: Margaret R Moore

Document Summary

Claims that the morally right act or policy is that which produces the greatest happiness for the members of society. 2 attractions of utilitarianism: more on what counts as (cid:494)utility(cid:495) in our own lives. Helps us to resolve moral questions, or test them. (not restricted to pleasure) not simply pleasure. Also a mental state that supervenes on mental. Consequentialism: we can check whether act or policy actually did some identifiable good or not. Goal it seeks to promote human happiness, human welfare is something we all wish to pursue. Bentham defined utility as pleasure based: welfare hedonism: experience or sensation of pleasure (cid:523)bentham"s(cid:524) pleasure that supervenes on whatever you are trying to maximize. Mental state utility is: non-hedonistic mental state utility acknowledges that many different mental states are valuable actions. Counter argument to both: nozick"s experience machine. Thought experiment where nozick thought that many of us would not agree.