Political Science 2237E Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: John Stuart Mill, Tabula Rasa

• School: Western University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: Political Science 2237E
• Professor: Nandita Mellamphy

Document Summary

People are born with a blank slate: develops pleasures and pains, fundamental for everyone makes decisions on pain and pleasure. Use of utility to find right and wrong in society. Advantages of living in a community outweigh the pain. Hobbes can be an utilitarian enter in commonwealth or stay outside: locke enter a contract or not. Individual always matter your preference always matter: equal consideration in a group, only one in a group, when in a group, some action/legislation have greater effect on some individuals than others. Might gave a group member a greater claim: an act might not affect us more than another but we might feel more intensely about it than another. A majorities pleasure can outweigh the minority. Bentham"s utilitarianism: nothing in itself is desirable except pleasure and the relief of pain, one human"s pleasure is equal to another"s, an action is right" if it produces the greatest happiness, humans are selfish, but capable of benevolence.