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WorksheetsPhilosophy & Ethics - Utilitarianism
Total questions: 30
Worksheet time: 15mins
Which statement best captures the core doctrine of utilitarianism?
Act according to divine command to ensure moral goodness
Seek the greatest good for the greatest number by evaluating outcomes
Follow personal intuitions regardless of consequences
Maximize individual rights even if overall happiness decreases
Utilitarianism is classified as which type of ethical theory because it judges actions by their outcomes?
Deontological
Virtue-based
Teleological/Consequentialist
Relativist
According to the section, what is the primary aim of the principle of utility?
To preserve traditional moral rules
To evaluate actions based on their tendency to produce benefit or happiness and prevent pain
To prioritize religious commandments
To maximize personal autonomy
Which feature is emphasized as a strength of utilitarianism in modern, pluralistic societies?
Reliance on religious doctrine
Its secular approach and impartiality
Its focus on intrinsic moral duties
Its rejection of happiness as a moral goal
Jeremy Bentham’s form of utilitarianism advocates case-by-case calculation of consequences. What is this called?
Rule Utilitarianism
Act Utilitarianism
Preference Utilitarianism
Virtue Utilitarianism
Bentham’s famous claim about human nature states that people are governed by which two masters?
Reason and passion
Duty and virtue
Pain and pleasure
Faith and tradition
What is the purpose of Bentham’s Hedonic Calculus?
To rank moral virtues
To determine intrinsic rightness of actions
To weigh factors of pleasure and pain to assess consequences
To enforce legal penalties
In the Hedonic Calculus, which factor asks, “How strong is the pleasure or pain?”
Duration
Certainty
Intensity
Propinquity
Which Hedonic Calculus factor concerns how likely the pleasure or pain will actually occur?
Fecundity
Certainty
Purity
Duration
According to John Stuart Mill, what is the most significant difference between higher and lower pleasures?
Higher pleasures are measured by quantity, while lower pleasures are measured by quality.
Higher pleasures (intellectual, social, moral) are qualitatively superior to lower bodily pleasures (food, sex, sleep).
Lower pleasures last longer than higher pleasures and are therefore more valuable.
Higher pleasures are chosen only by people who have never experienced lower pleasures.
Mill’s critique of Bentham includes which claim about the hedonic calculus?
It is simple and ideal for quick decision-making.
It ignores consequences entirely.
It is too complex and impractical for rapid moral decisions.
It perfectly accounts for higher and lower pleasures.
Mill’s Harm Principle states that government should impose laws primarily to:
Increase national wealth.
Prevent people from harming others.
Promote religious morality.
Maximize individual pleasure at all costs.
Act Utilitarianism determines the morality of an action primarily by:
Whether it conforms to established rules.
Its specific consequences in the particular situation.
The intentions of the agent.
The social status of the person acting.
Which example best illustrates Act Utilitarian reasoning from the material?
Stealing is always wrong regardless of context.
Stealing a loaf of bread could be right if it feeds a starving family but wrong if done by a wealthy individual.
Feeding a family is wrong if it violates a rule.
An action’s morality depends solely on the agent’s character.
A key weakness of Act Utilitarianism identified in the material is that it:
Relies on moral absolutes.
Is impractical because it demands weighing complex variables for each decision.
Denies that consequences matter.
Rejects the principle of utility.
Rule Utilitarianism, associated with J.S. Mill, focuses on:
Maximizing personal wealth.
The consequences of following general rules that, if adopted by all, produce the greatest overall good.
Ignoring societal experience in favor of individual intuition.
Punishing rule-breakers rather than promoting the common good.
Compared to absolute moral rules, utilitarian rules in Rule Utilitarianism are described as:
Fixed and unchangeable.
Flexible and revisable to achieve the greater good while respecting freedom and non-harm.
Based solely on religious authority.
Irrelevant to societal well-being.
Preference Utilitarianism, developed by Peter Singer, aims primarily to:
Maximize pleasure regardless of preferences.
Maximize the satisfaction of individual preferences while minimizing suffering and harm.
Enforce strict moral rules derived from tradition.
Focus exclusively on increasing higher intellectual pleasures.
In Preference Utilitarianism, the impartial observer perspective is used to:
Determine which rules are historically oldest.
Weigh competing preferences to find the greatest overall balance of good.
Prioritize the preferences of the wealthiest individuals.
Eliminate lower pleasures from consideration.
Which scenario is commonly used to illustrate utilitarian decision-making by prioritizing outcomes that save more lives?
The prisoner's dilemma
The trolley problem
Pascal's wager
The ship of Theseus
In the "Dying Millionaire" case, what would a utilitarian most likely argue?
Respect the millionaire's wish to fund a sports team because property rights are absolute.
Redirect the fortune to a charity that could save 100,000 lives because it produces a far greater good.
Split the money evenly among local citizens to promote fairness.
Invest the money in the sports team's community programs to balance interests.
Which application reflects utilitarian support for progressive social reform according to Bentham and Mill?
Advocating for strict traditional norms
Campaigning for the decriminalization of homosexuality and equal rights for women
Prioritizing the happiness of elites
Upholding religious authority in policy-making
According to the text, utilitarianism in business ethics, as argued by Adam Smith, emphasizes which practice?
Short-term profit maximization through exploitation
Fair treatment of customers and workers for long-term stability
Absolute adherence to natural rights
Reducing consumer choice to simplify decisions
What deep conflict emerges in the "Executing the Innocent" scenario when applying utilitarianism?
Between loyalty and patriotism
Between justice and individual rights versus outcome-focused reasoning
Between religious doctrine and secularism
Between free will and determinism
Which of the following is listed as a strength of utilitarianism?
It relies on religious authority.
It gives special favor to elites.
It provides a clear decision procedure that is relatively easy to understand and apply.
It rejects maximizing happiness as a goal.
Which criticism targets the feasibility of comparing pleasure and pain?
The tyranny of the majority
Predicting consequences
The problem of measurement
Ignoring justice and rights
What danger does the “tyranny of the majority” criticism highlight?
Majority rule always produces just outcomes.
Utilitarianism may justify actions that harm minority groups if they please the majority.
Minority preferences always override majority interests.
Utilitarianism neglects consequences entirely.
Which counter-argument responds to the criticism that utilitarianism ignores justice and rights?
Adopting a rule that protects individual rights can make society better and happier in the long run.
Eliminating all rights ensures impartial calculations.
Only act-utilitarianism can defend rights effectively.
Rejecting rules preserves flexibility.
Which criticism claims utilitarianism demands excessive self-sacrifice from individuals?
Impartiality
Democratic
Predicting consequences
It is too demanding
What is the proposed counter-argument to the claim that utilitarianism is too demanding?
A rule endorsing constant sacrifice maximizes utility.
A balanced-life rule for everyone may yield greater overall happiness than exhausting self-sacrifice.
Rejecting rules entirely reduces burdens.
Happiness cannot be maximized without total self-denial.
