Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Appeasement, Jeremy Bentham, Robert Nozick
27 Sep 2016
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Lecture 6: justifying the state: utilitarianism, the. Required reading: wolff, introduction to political philosophy, chapter 1, pp. The right action is the one that maximises utility. Obey the law if and only if doing so will produce greater happiness than disobeying. Duty to produce as much good as possible. We value impartial concern, especially as a public value. Consequences of actions are the only thing that matter. Thought experiment put forward by philosopher robert nozick in his 1974 book. It fails to explain why actions are morally right or wrong. It can get the right answer, but not for the right reason. Yes (world poverty: keep giving until it hurts) Not necessarily (secure property rights can contribute to greatest happiness) Can require injustice (torture, slavery, conviction of the innocent) It would never maximise happiness to convict innocent/torture. Don"t justify particular actions by appeal to utility-promotion. Well-being is maximized by each of us obeying the law.
