PHIL 150 1st Edition Lecture 14Outline of Last Lecture I. The Classical Version of the TheoryII. Is Pleasure All that Matters?III. Are Consequences All that MatterOutline of Current Lecture II. Should We Be Equally Concerned for Everyone?III. The Defense of UtilitarianismIV. Concluding ThoughtsCurrent LectureRachels Chapter 8 Part 2Should We Be Equally Concerned for Everyone- One problem is that the requirement of “equal concern” places too great a demand on us Faithful adherence to the utilitarianism standard would require you to give away your wealth until you’ve made yourself as poor as the people you’re helping Philosophers call such actions superogatory- Also tells us to do things that would destroy our personal relationships None of us are willing to treat everyone equally because that would require us togive up our special bond to friends and familyThe Defense of Utilitarianism- The first defense: Contesting the consequences These arguments that vile situations would have the best consequences under utilitarianism circumstances succeed only if the actions they describe really would have the best consequences, which, according to the first defense, they would not Utility is not served by framing innocent peopleThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- The second defense: The Principle of Utility is a Guide fro Choosing Rules, not Acts The troublesome assumption might be that each individual action should be judged by the utilitarian standard The new version of Utilitarianism modifies the theory so that the individual actions are no longer judged by the Principle of Utility- The third defense: “Common Sense” is Wrong Utilitarianism does not have consequences which are incompatible with the common moral consciousness- The first response: All Values Have A Utilitarian basis Utilitarianism justifies the commonsense values we have- The second response: Our Gut Reactions Cant Be Trusted When Cases Are Exceptional When confronting unusual cases, we should trust the Principle of Utility more than our guts- The Third Response: We Should Focus on All the Consequences If we focus on all the effects of the act, Utilitarianism will seem more plausibleConcluding Thoughts- Commonsense cannot be
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