MGTA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Shelly Kagan, T. M. Scanlon, Experience Machine
Midterm Course Readings – PHLA11
1. The utilitarian approach – James/Stuart Rachels
• Morality, he urged, is not about pleasing God, nor is it about being faithful to abstract rules.
Morality is about making the world as happy as possible.
• One ultimate moral principle, namely, the Principle of Utility
• This principle requires us to always choose whatever action or social policy would have the best
consequences for everyone concerned.
• The Chuh agues that all killig is og, ut this does’t atte i utilitarianism
o which one would have the best overall consequences? What action would produce the
greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness for all concerned?
• Applies to non-huas too, idiiduals
o Human suffering is the same as other animals
• Only moal thig that attes is ell-eig
• Aggregation (in some form) is essential to utilitarianism. Situations frequently arise where one
person's pleasure is in conflict with another's, or where the only way to secure one person's
pleasure is to cause someone else pain, or where we must choose which person suffers which
pain. We must find a way to balance the moral reasons generated by different people's
pleasures and pains. If we retain a utilitarian perspective, then it is hard to see ho
2. The Experience Machine – Robert Nozick
3. Famine, Affluence, and Morality – Peter Singer
• Singer argues that it is our moral duty to help those who are in need, INTERNATIONALLY.
• Distance from suffering is NOT important. We must help either way.
• Mai piiple: If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby
saifiig aythig oally sigifiat, e ought, oally, to do it.
o I essee, By giig oe oey to faie elief tha I do, I ould ot e saifiig
anything morally sigifiat.
4. Chopping up Chuck – Shelly Kagan
5. Classic Utilitarianism – John Rawls
• Attacks Utilitarianism
• AGAINST: The main idea is that society is rightly ordered, and therefore just, when its major
institutions are arranged so as to achieve the greatest net balance of satisfaction summed over
all the individuals belonging to it. (TJ, 22)
• Firstly, Rawls argues that utilitarianism cannot absolutely rule out such systems as slavery or
racial segregation. It is unlikely that a utilitarian would embrace either of these institutions, but
there is nothing in the moral theory to exclude them from consideration. If slavery, for instance,
is to the overall benefit of society, in that the wellbeing of the slave-owners outweighs the
suffering of the slaves, then utilitarianism would be forced to accept slavery.
o Therefore, since utilitarianism allows such a trampling of individual rights, it must be
discarded.
• Utilitaiais does ot take seiously the distitio etee pesos.
6. Contractualism and utilitarianism – Thomas Scanlon
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Midterm course readings phla11: the utilitarian approach james/stuart rachels, morality, he urged, is not about pleasing god, nor is it about being faithful to abstract rules. Situations frequently arise where one person"s pleasure is in conflict with another"s, or where the only way to secure one person"s pleasure is to cause someone else pain, or where we must choose which person suffers which pain. We must find a way to balance the moral reasons generated by different people"s pleasures and pains. We must help either way: mai(cid:374) p(cid:396)i(cid:374)(cid:272)iple: (cid:862)if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sa(cid:272)(cid:396)ifi(cid:272)i(cid:374)g a(cid:374)ythi(cid:374)g (cid:373)o(cid:396)ally sig(cid:374)ifi(cid:272)a(cid:374)t, (cid:449)e ought, (cid:373)o(cid:396)ally, to do it. (cid:863) (cid:894)(cid:1006)(cid:1007)(cid:1005)(cid:895) It is unlikely that a utilitarian would embrace either of these institutions, but there is nothing in the moral theory to exclude them from consideration. This is one of the main respects in which it differs from utilitarianism.
