Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Experience Machine, Jeremy Bentham, Reform War
5 Oct 2016
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Mid-term test: saturday november 5th, 10am- noon, 125 question from reading/lectures, 15 questions from tutorials 1-6. 2,000 word essay: due friday november 11th, 2016, see owl site for . Dr. jones on how to write an essay". Utilitarianism: the greatest good for the greatest number of people , the good and the right. Good refers to states of the world (ex. good, bad, desirable, undesirable, happiness, unhappiness, etc. ) Right refers to actions/laws/rules (ex. morally right, morally wrong, justice, etc. : the right action is the one that maximizes utility, utility = happiness, well-being, pleasure, preference satisfaction. Jeremy bentham 1748-1832: father of utilitarianism, wanted to reform laws in the name of happiness, obey the law if and only if doing so will produce greater happiness than disobeying, objection: this is a law-breaker"s charter. Requirement of maximization: duty to produce as much good as possible. Why utilitarianism: we all value human happiness, we value impartial concern, especially as a public value, consequentialism.
