Phil 186 - Quiz 3; Utilitarianism Study Guide Questions And Correct Answers

If lying should bring about more immediate happiness than telling the truth, a utilitarian would say that it is the morally right thing to do. {Ans: FALSE *The morally right action, is that act that brings about more utility in the LONG run. If the people that were lied to found out, then they may not continue to trust the actions of the person, company, or government that lied. This could hurt future interactions and operations.}Utilitarians define pleasure as the opposite of pain. {Ans: TRUE}As a consequentialist theory, utilitarianism evaluates the intention of the agent performing an action. Should the agent's intention be good, the action is considered morally good. {Ans: FALSE}Briefly describe the difference between John Stewart Mill and Jeremy Bentham's take on utilitarianism. {Ans: Jeremy Bentham advocated quantitative consequentialism. His utilitarian foundations were hedonistic. Bentham focused his analysis of value terms on pleasure and pain. John Stewart Mill favored qualitative consequentialism. To produce the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness for all members of our community.}Jeremy Bentham created a tool that can measure the overall utility of an action, that subtracts possible pains from the possible pleasure that the act can provide. He called