PHIL 164 Lecture Notes - Mirror Test, Modus Ponens, Diodorus Cronus
Document Summary
Utilitarianism: conditions of rightness: an action is morally right, if and only if no other act the agent could have done instead that has a higher utility than it. a. ) Hedon: a unit of pleasure c. ) dolor: a unit of pain. Promise to the dead man: grandfather and grandson stranded on island. One day the grandfather is about to die. He tells the grandson to promise him to bury him in a good place. a. ) If utilitarianism is true, then the grandson is not morally obligated to keep promise. But he made a solemn promise to his grandfather. Premise 1: morally obligated: is an action that has the highest utility of any other action the agent could have done instead. Utilitarianism: an action is right if and only if there is not other action the agent could have done instead that has higher utility than it has.