Term
| what is the definition of happiness according to Mill? |
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Definition
| happiness= utility= pleasure and absence of pain |
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Term
| what is the Principle of Utility or the Greatest Happiness Principle? (for Mill) |
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Definition
the greatest happiness principle:
- utility (= happiness) lies in the greatest amount of pleasure (regarding it's quantity and quality) for the greatest number of people (for humankind).
-actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness (= pleasure), wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness (= pain). |
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Term
| what kind of sanctions does Mill recognize and which of them is the ultimate sanction of morality? |
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Definition
1. external sanctions: societal rules...
2. internal sanctions: the subjective regulative feeling in our mind= Conscience
- the ultimate sanction of morality is the internal sanction of conscience. |
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Term
| define the utilitarian notion of conscience. is it innate or acquired, natural or artificial: explain (for Mill) |
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Definition
conscience is the subjective feeling of duty: it is a binding force that influences behavior (it creates discomfort when one violates duty).
it's the ultimate (internal) sanction and it's subjective. it needs to be cultivated/educated/influenced in the right way and taken care of.
conscience may be innate or acquired: Mill doesn't settle this dispute because according to him, it doesn't matter. what matters is that it is a natural feeling: if it is innate, it is of course natural; if it is acquired, it is acquired naturally (not artificially) and therefore becomes second nature through education and upbringing. |
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Term
| what is the criterion of morality? what are it's possible 'ingredients'? is there are concept of hierarchy between them? (for Mill) |
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Definition
happiness is the ultimate criterion of morality.
there are various ingredients of happiness and each of them is desirable in itself: besides being means, they are also ends (like virtue, honor, wealth) and become thus part of happiness as a whole which is the ultimate end- an inclusive understanding of happiness. |
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Term
| (for Mill) an example of an "internal sanction" would be: |
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Definition
| the guilt of one's own conscience for bad actions |
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Term
| (for Mill) utility can be defined as: |
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Definition
| pleasure and the absence of pain |
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Term
| (for Mill) utilitarianism dictates that actions are morally good when... |
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Definition
| ... they promote general happiness |
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Term
| in response to the criticism that the most virtuous people have been martyrs who gave up their happiness, Mill replies: |
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Definition
| that martyrdom is only valuable because they sacrificed their own happiness for the general good. |
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Term
(for Mill) what is morally the best?
a) saving a person from drowning out of a sense of moral duty.
b) saving a person from drowning out of a desire for celebrity.
c) saving a person from drowning out of a desire for reward money.
d) all three actions are equally good. |
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Definition
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Term
| in response to the criticism that there is not enough time to calculate which actions will produce the most good, Mill replies: |
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Definition
| that people know the results that actions tend to produce, and they don't have to retest every action by first principles every time they perform it. |
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Term
| in the debate over whether conscience as the feelings of duty are innate or acquired, Mill argues that for the purposes of his theory: |
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Definition
| the distinction doesn't matter because either way, people are capable of feeling a duty to promote utilitarian ends in a natural way and that is a fact. |
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Term
| Mill argues that sentiments in favor of utilitarianism are natural because... |
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Definition
| humans are social beings who must care about other people's interests. |
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Term
| Mill replies to the objection that people see virtue as an end by saying |
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Definition
| that virtue is an end but also a part of happiness as a whole |
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Term
| if a person would have to lie in order to save somebody's life, Mill would argue that... |
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Definition
| she should lie, because the utility of saving a life outweighs the claims of justice's. |
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