SUGGESTIONS FOR NOTES, WEEKS 12 & 13
(Remember that these are
merely suggestions: you needn’t write on any of these topics.)
1. What does it mean to say that morality is objective? Is it?
2. What is the principle of utility/greatest happiness principle?
3. What is Mill’s criticism of Kant in Chapter 1?
4. What is the “swinish life” objection to utilitarianism?
5. Do people regularly choose “higher” or “lower” pleasures? What is the significance of this?
6. Explain the relationship between “prevention of unhappiness” and
“promotion of happiness.”
7. How might one object to utilitarianism?
8. What would a utilitarian calculation be? Is they essential to utilitarianism?
9. What does Mill offer as a grounding for the principle of utility?
10. Mill offers a proof of utilitarianism (Chapter 4). Can you criticize this proof?