PHIL 3000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Rule Utilitarianism
30 May 2016
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Chapter 9 idealized account of mill act utilitarian : Act utilitarian : if act > improved overall well-being then good. Contrast: rule utilitarianism if a tule > improves well-bing, always follow it even if a few harms. Basic idea: greatest good for the greatest number. Watch out for 2 big misunderstandings: (not what mill is trying to say) Misunderstandings always benefit largest number, we do not always have to benefit the largest number; it is acceptable to do great good for a small number if it does no harm to most of us. We may still advocate for small hairs if they produce huge benefits(use of antibiotics) We can justify many of our conventional moral beliefs. Resolve moral conflicts: truth vs. being nice. We cannot actually know whether our action is right until long after. To escape this, some utilitarians distinguish betters actual vs. expected results.
