The principle of utility determines the rightness of acts (or rules of - PDF document

TKe prLncLpOe of utLOLt\ determLnes tKe rLJKtness of acts or ruOes of actLon? b\ tKeLr effect on tKe totaO KappLness. MetaetKLcaOstartLnJ poLntsMLOO beJLns ZLtK a feZ comments on [ZKat Oater Zas termed] metaetKLcs cOaLmLnJ tKat etKLcs and otKer ³practLcaO´ tKeorLconcernLnJ actLon run Ln tKe revavor cK.4. ³ [A]ctLonsare rLJKt Ln proportLon as tKe\ tend to promote Kapp,ts sLmpOest LnterpretatLon taNes ³tend´ as referrLnJ to tKe cavs. probabOe consequences –tKouJK cK.5.But unOLNe BentKam MLOO doesn’t taNe KappLness Must as a matKematLcaO sum of pOeasures mLnus paLns dLfferLnJ onO\ on quantLtatLve measures OLNe LntensLt\ and POeasures of dLstLnctLveO\ Kuman facuOtLes are aOso saLd to be pOeasures of tKe sort Ze sKare ZLtK anLmaOs –as determLned b\ te[perLenced and are stLOO capabOe of e[perLencLnJ botK sorts pOeasure an aLm ZortK\ of sZLneveO\ Kuman KappLness an LnapproprLate aLm pp. 5ff.. TKe aLm Lsn’t ecstas\ but Must to mLnLmL]e paLn and acKLeve a comforMust one’s oZn Ls tKe standard of rLJKt actLon vs. motLve of Oeaves no room for beaut\ ornamenr mLsconceptLon a ³JodOess´ doctrLne p. 6. SpeOOs out ZKat a benevoOent *od undercuts ³prLncLpOed´ adKerence to ruOes pp. 6ff. RuOe-breaNLnJ Ls aOmost aOZa\s forbLdden because of KarmfuO sLde-effects. EstabOLsKed romote utLOLt\. :e sKouOd OLmLt dLrect appeaO to tKe prLncLpOe of utLOLt\ to cases ZKere tKe ruOes confOLct. MLOO KoOds tKat Ze need to settOe fLrst ZKLcK acts are rLJKt beraLsLnJ questLons about tKe ZortK of persons or tKeLr motLves.+oZ can Ze recoJnL]e vLrtuous persons or motLves e[cept b\ tKetKe\ do or Oead to? ,n footnote [B] Ln response to a countere[ampOe --of savLnJ sfrom droZnLnJ Must Ln order to torture KLm –Ke dLstLnJuLsKes bemotLves and LntentLons. ,ntentLons are reaOO\ of tKe act beLnJ MudJed –ZKat one Ls tr\LnJ to do --not a furtKer aLm tKe one Kopes to acKLeve b\ doLnJ Lt MLOO consLders a furtKer obMectLon Ln cK. 3 tKat peopOe Zon’tmotLvated b\ tKe prLncLpOe of utLOLt\ unOess tKe\ Kappen to care about promotLnJ tKe totaO KappLness as ver\ feZ peopOe do. MLOO repOLes tKat motLvatLnJ actLon on an\ moraO s\stem not MuutLOLtarLanLsm depends on tZo NLnds of ³sanctLons´ = punLsKmefor ZronJ actLon tKat need to be set up or modLfLed b\ socLet\. feeOLnJs of seOf-reproacK L.e. conscLence or socLaO aOLenatLUOtLmateO\ tKese aOO turn on subMectLve feeOLnJs e.J. fear of punLsKment and our socLaO feeOLnJs provLde a naturaO basLs foconcern ZLtK tKe totaO KappLness \ ZLtK otKers. TKLs Must needs to be ZLdened be\ond one’s famLO\ and frLends b\ educatLon. ,n cK. 4 MLOO Jrants tKat a prLncLpOe about uOtLmate ends Ls reaOO\ no more about LmmedLate sense e[perLence. +appLness Ls desLrabOe [= Jood anct tKat Ze desLre Lt NotKLnJ otKer tKan KappLness Ls desLrabOe an\tKLnJ eOse Ls orL onO\ as a means to KappLness –or Oater as part of Lt as Ln totKer Oess admLrabOe aLms e.J. mone\ poZer tKat eventuaOO\for tKeLr oZn saNe asnames for tKe same Ldea. On tZo furtKer assumptLons –tKat tKe for ZKLcK Ze act Ls tKe crLterLon of rLJKt actLon –tKLs \LeOds e[perLences correspond to reaOLt\ No]LcN’s³e[perLence macKLne´to utLOLtarLanLsm [³proper´] sacrLfLce of some to tKe totaO Jood cf. e.J. troOOe\ cases Structure of cK.5Need to ansZer obMectLon tKat response to LnMustLce Ls a dLstLnct feeOLnJ not obvLousO\ e[pOaLned b\ tKe PrLncLpOe of UtLOLt\,nstances of LnMustLce revLeZed to fLnd common feature man\ detaLOs Ln dLsputeEt\moOoJ\ reveaOs OLnN to vLoOatLon of ZKat ouJKt to be a OaZ but tKat pLcNs out a broader cateJor\ moraO ZronJ = vLoOatLon of obOLJatLonVLoOatLon of obOLJatLon toZard a specLfLc person or persons = ³NaturaO retaOLator\ feeOLnJs ³moraOL]ed´ onO\ ZKen motLve of seOf-defense Ln broadened PrLncLpOe of UtLOLt\ needed to resoOve confOLcts Ln Lnstances o MLOO arJues tKat our sense of MustLce ZKLcK Ls based on tKe prurJe to retaOLate for Karm depends for Lts content and ³bLndLnmoraO status on utLOLtarLanLsm.+Ls LnLtLaO revLeZ of tKe t\pes of tKLnJs tKat count as unMustZLtK et\moOoJ\ reveaOs tKat tKe\ Kave Ln common reference to vLoOatLon of a OaZ reaO or LdeaO. But Lt aOso brLnJs out conf+e notes tKat an act Ls morally wrong = a vLoOatLon of moraO obOLJatLon or dut\ onO\ Lf Lt deservespunLsKment at Oeast b\ socLaO dLsapprovaO or conscLence. So some acts tKat faLO to ma[LmL]e tKe Jood ma\ not reaOO\ be Zbut Must ³Lne[pedLent´ –Ln tKe broader sense Ln ZKLcK MLOO usesterm Kere [as ³non-optLmaO´ = not tKe best]. CertaLn JeneraO ruOes tKat are essentLaO to our basLc securLt\ specLfLc persons. CompOeteO\ specLfLed dutLes are NnoZn as ³pepersons or Jroups toZard ZKom Ze Kave sucK dutLes are saLd to KTKe partLcuOarO\ stronJ sense oftLce as opposed to JenerosLt\ or benevoOence sa\ of MustLce onO\ ZKen our urJe toZard seOf-defense Ls e[tended b\ s\mpatK\ to refOect concern for tKe socLaO Jood. Lve urJe to retaOLate needs to reference to tKe socLaO Jood Ze acLpOe of UtLOLt\ to resoOve confOLcts betZeen dLfferent con Ln MLOO’s LnLtLaO dLscussLon :e dLsaJree e.J. about ZKat maNes a s\stem of punLsKment or odLstrLbutLon or ta[atLon Must but tKe onO\ prLncLpOe for resoOvLnJ sucK confOLcts Ls tKe prLncLpOe of utLOLt\. [/ater Ln our readLnJs RaZOs ZLOO propose an aOternatLve of prLncLpOes for cases ver Ln ³TZo Concepts of RuOesonOLne Ke arJued tKat MLOO’s vLeZ Ln cK. 5 can KandOe apparent countere[ampOes to utLOLtarLan punLsKment ³teOLsKment´ b\ appO\LnJ tKe prLncLpOe of utLOLt\ UnOLNe MLOO tKouJK RaZOs ZouOd OLmLt e[ceptLons to tKose actuueO\ to e[treme