PHL275H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick, Jeremy Bentham
Document Summary
An action is morally right if & only if it maximizes pleasure & minimizes pain (i. e. if it maximizes utility/happiness). Henry sidgwick worried about how mill gets to universality. An act is right if & only if it results in the best possible (i. e. maximal) consequences out of all acts available to the agent. Hedonism: the only things good in themselves are pleasure & freedom from pain. The sum of all the pleasure it produces minus the sum of all the pain it produces. Scenario: your child really, really wants to ride a roller coaster with you, but you"re really, really afraid of heights. Pain for you as you realize your fear of heights: 10 dolors. Pleasure for your child, who"s having a blast: 15 hedons. Pleasure for you, seeing that your child is having a blast: 2 hedons. Pain for your child, who"s very disappointed: 10 dolors. Pain for you, seeing your child"s disappointment: 2 dolors.
