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WorksheetsUtilitarianism Revision
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 13mins
The founder of modern utilitarianism is
JS Mill
Descartes
Jeremy Bentham
Peter Singer
What is meant by the greatest happiness principle?
Maximising pain for the majority
maximising happiness and minimising pain for the majority
maximising preferences and minimising pain for majority
calculating the quantity of happiness an action would create
The three key features of utilitarianism are:
hedonism, the good will and equity
consequences, hedonism and higher and lower pleasures
consequences, hedonism and equity
consequences, equity and the hedonic calculus
What is meant by consequentialism?
the morality of an action is held in the consequences of an action
the morality of an action is held in the motivation behind the action
the morality of an action is held in the preferences of the individuals involved
the morality of an action is irrelevant
What is meant by equity?
Everyone's happiness is of equal importance
Every action has an equal outcome
Everyone's happiness is subjective
The happiness of the people you love is irrelevant in the situation
What is meant by hedonism?
pleasure is the only good and only thing worth valuing
maximising pleasure for the majority
minimising pain for the majoirty
Another word for the hedonic calculus
Who is the associated with the hedonic calculus?
JS Mill
Peter Singer
Kant
Jeremy Bentham
What is the purpose of the hedonic calculus?
a method for quantifying how much pleasure and pain would be produced from a certain action
a way to measure the consequences of an action
a way to measure how many people would benefit from the pleasure of an action
A way to find out why pleasure is a good thing
The quote 'Push pin is as good as poetry' is associated with which philosopher?
Peter Singer
Jeremy Bentham
J S Mill
Rene Descartes
"Its better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied' Which of the below key terms best links to this quote?
Equity
Higher and lower pleasures
Hard and soft rule utilitarianism
consequentialism
What is meant by 'competent judges'?
Someone who is a soft rule utilitarian
someone who prefers lower pleasures to higher pleasures
someone who has experienced both higher and lower pleasures and will always choose higher pleasures
someone who has experienced both higher and lower pleasures and will always choose lower pleasures
Which of the following criticisms are associated with Act utilitarianism?
'Swine Philosophy'
'Problem with consequences'
'The experience machine'
'Bad pleasures'
Nozick's thought experiment is a criticism of:
Equity
Hedonism
consequences
rule utilitarianism
A criticism of rule utilitarianism is:
there might be more than one rule in a situation and it can be difficult to know which one to follow
bad pleasures e.g. three people might take pleasure in torturing one other person
The hedonic calculus can be time consuming
its difficult to predict the outcome when making decisions based on consequences.
From the list below, select which are criticisms related to consequences
short term and long term consequences
issue with predicting consequences
local and global consequences
problem of justice (tyranny of the majority)
From the list below, select which ones are lower pleasures
Attending the opera
eating a burger
sleeping
studying philosophy
From the list below, select the ones which are higher pleasures
Reading poetry
fighting with someone over the last chip
studying philosophy
going to the ballet
Which of the following are components of the hedonic calculus?
intensity
duration
purity
extent
What did J S Mill believe about pleasure?
that it should be maximised regardless of the type of pleasure that is experienced
He believed that the quality of pleasure was more important than the quantity of pleasure
He believed that the quantity of pleasure was more important than the quality of pleasure
that all pleasures were the same
What is the correct definition of act utilitarianism?
When a person's act is morally right if and only if it produces the best possible results in that specific situation
When a person's act is morally right if and only if it produces the best possible results according to a general rule
when a person's act is right if it maximises preferences of the majority of people in that situation
