Deck 5: Utilitarianism and John Stuart Mill

Question 1

In his work, Utilitarianism , Mill's test or basis for distinguishing higher from lower pleasures is the preference of those who have experience of both.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Utilitarianism says that utility is identical to pleasure.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Which of the following is not included in calculating the amount of happiness?

A)Cost
B)Intensity
C)Likelihood
D)Duration

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Utilitarianism is an egoistic moral theory.

Question 5

According to utilitarianism, an act that makes some people happy and others unhappy can never be morally right.

Question 6

According to utilitarianism which of the following is useful for evaluating the morality of an action?

A)People's intentions
B)The nature of the act
C)The process of accomplishing the result
D)The result of the action

Question 7

According to Bentham, some pleasures may be more valuable than others but only in so far as they are of greater intensity or duration.

Question 8

Which of the following was not one of the founders of utilitarianism?

A)James Mill
B)Jeremy Bentham
C)John Stuart Mill
D)Rene Descartes

Question 9

Both Bentham and Mill hold that some pleasures are better in kind than others.

Question 10

Utilitarianism is a relativistic moral theory, for it recognizes that what is good in some circumstances is not always good in others.

Question 11

According to utilitarianism which of the following is an intrinsic good?

A)Love
B)Justice
C)Pleasure
D)Power

Question 12

The reason that Mill believes pleasure is the only intrinsic good is because he believes it is the only thing that everyone desires for its own sake.

Question 13

The following is an example of the reasoning of a rule utilitarian: "If the practice of lying is bad, then one ought not to lie now, even if in this case to lie would actually bring about better consequences."

Question 14

According to act utilitarianism, if it produces more net utility (or "happiness")to give money to famine relief, even though  I had promised to payback a friend  with that money, then I ought to give the money to the relief fund.

Question 15

According to utilitarian moral theory, happiness is an instrumental good.

Question 16

According to Mill, the only evidence we have that something is desirable in itself (as an end)is that people do, in fact, desire it.

Question 17

The trolley problem is used to illustrate which of the following?

A)The complexity of calculating morality using a cost-benefit analysis.
B)The difficulty involved in making utilitarian decisions.
C)The morality of public vs. private transportation.
D)The basis of rule utilitarianism.

Question 18

In the reading from Utilitarianism Mill writes that we have learned by experience that murder and theft are wrong because they are generally injurious to human happiness.

Question 19

In his Utilitarianism Mill answers those who say that his theory is a crass pleasure theory, fit only for beasts, by suggesting ways that humans make qualitative (and not just quantitative)distinctions between types of pleasure.

Question 20

Which of the following is not necessary to act morally according to utilitarianism?

A)To consider all the variables involved in an action.
B)To act as the majority wishes.
C)To consider all people to be of equal value.
D)To produce a result that produces the greatest good for the greatest number.

Question 21

Of which kind of reasoning , Act (A)or Rule (R)Utilitarianism, are the following examples?
I ought to get more sleep because if I don't I will be no good to myself or others.

Question 22

Of which kind of reasoning , Act (A)or Rule (R)Utilitarianism, are the following examples?
If everyone cut in that line, then there would be chaos and that would be bad, so I ought not cut in the line but go to the end.

Question 23

What is the significance of Mills' distinction between the pleasure of a "pig satisfied," in contrast to "Socrates satisfied?" What does this distinction add to Bentham's version of utilitarianism?

Question 24

Label as the better choice on utilitarian calculations , A or B, using a scale of -10 (very painful)to +10 (very pleasurable)for degrees of pleasure or happiness.
A will bring 5 people each 8 days of pleasure and 3 people each 2 days of pain,
B will bring 8 people each 3 days of pleasure and 1 person 3 days of pain.

Question 25

Rule Utilitarianism asks that we consider the consequences of each act

A)Separately.
B)According to a clear set of rules.
C)As a general practice.
D)On the greatest number.

Question 26

Label as the better choice on utilitarian calculations , A or B, using a scale of -10 (very painful)to +10 (very pleasurable)for degrees of pleasure or happiness.
A makes 5 people happy and no one unhappy,
B makes 9 people happy and me unhappy.

Question 27

Explain the difference between an instrumental good and an intrinsic good. Why does utilitarianism treat happiness as an intrinsic good?

Question 28

During which centuries did Bentham and Mill publish their utilitarian theories?

A)The 1600s and 1700s (A.C.E.).
B)The 1700s and 1800s (A.C.E.).
C)The 1800s and 1900s (A.C.E.).
D)The 1900s and 2000s (A.C.E.).

Question 29

Of which kind of reasoning , Act (A)or Rule (R)Utilitarianism, are the following examples?
We ought to observe copyright rules because if we did not then no one's intellectual property would be safe and this would be a very bad outcome.

Question 30

Label as the better choice on utilitarian calculations , A or B, using a scale of -10 (very painful)to +10 (very pleasurable)for degrees of pleasure or happiness.
A makes 10 people very happy and 2 people very unhappy,
B makes 8 people moderately happy and 1 person mildly unhappy.