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Higher Moral Philosophy - Utilitarianism

Terms in this set (11)

define 'normative' ethics
an ethical theory that tries to come up with a process that one may 'apply' to real situations
utilitarianism comes from the word utility, what did it originally mean?
'usefulness'
the father of utilitarianism
Jeremy Bentham
how does betham work out what is right in a situation?
hedonic calculus
how many criteria does the hedonic calculus have?
7
what is the 'big idea' of utilitarianism?
greatest happiness for the greatest number of people
what is the consequentialist principle?
the belief that only consequences, not intentions or anything else, are important in calculating the moral worth of an act...
what is the hedonic principle?
the idea that pleasure (and so displeasure) is the only meaningful value in calculating moral worth
what is the equity principle?
when calculating pleasure totals, each persons pleasure or displeasure should count equally
philosophers say that utilitarianism is the combination of three ideas or principles... what are they?
consequentialist
hedonic
equity
why might you describe utilitarianism as teleological?
its concern with 'end' results
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