1 / 7

Arguments based on consequences

Explore the concepts of Act Utilitarianism and Rule Utilitarianism, their decision procedures, measurement of utility, implementation challenges, and considerations of fairness. Understand how these ethical frameworks guide decision-making based on consequences.

mhorvath
Download Presentation

Arguments based on consequences

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Arguments based on consequences • We have a serious problem. • There are these options: A, B, C. • The consequences of doing A are bad. • The consequences of doing B are bad. • The consequences of doing C are good. • Therefore, we should do C.

  2. Act Utilitarianism • One ought to do the action which will create more social utility than any alternative possible action. • Social utility: overall balance of negative and positive utility, over long term, for all concerned. • Decision procedure: • List all concerned • Consider all alternatives • Calculate the overall utility of each alternative for all concerned

  3. Utilitarians differ about: • What counts as utility • happiness • pleasure • well-being • preferences • mixed bag of goods • Who should be counted • all humans • some humans • all sentient creatures • all creatures

  4. Some problems • Measurement • How do we measure utility? • Average or total? • How can we predict consequences? • Problems of implementation • What do we do when we’re in a hurry? • What do we teach our children? • Fairness • What if the optimal action results in inequality or unfairness?

  5. Rule Utilitarianism • Do the action which is in accord with the rule which would, if generally followed, create more social utility than any alternative rule. • Decision procedure: • List possible rules. • Consider the consequences of adoption of each rule. • Select the rule with the most utility. • Apply the rule.

  6. Rules • Rules must be general enough to cover similar cases and • Specific enough to give us some guidance about what to do. • Precise enough to rule out obvious counter-examples • E.g. “It’s wrong to kill.” is too broad. What about self-defense? • “It’s wrong to kill an innocent person.”

  7. RU and choosing rules • The RU looks at all the rules for a particular issue and asks which rule, if generally followed, would result in the best consequences.

More Related