PHLA11H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Henry Sidgwick, John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham
Document Summary
Moral theories: attempt to explain, at the most fundamental and general level, what differentiates right actions from wrong actions. Obligatory acts are acts that you have an obligation to perform, that are morally required and you morally ought to perform. Permissible acts are morally acceptable, allowed and permitted. Impermissible or wrong are acts that you are not morally acceptable. Obligatory acts are a kind of permissible action, it is more than permission you have to do it and you are wrong if you do not do it, it is required. Jeremy bentham, john stuart mill and henry sidgwick. The greatest happiness principle: an act is right if and only if it brings about the greatest total amount of happiness or utility out of all the actions available to the agent. Happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain .
