From Last Time

1
From Last Time

• The good will is the only good thing in an
  unqualified way
• Acting from duty vs. acting in accord with duty
• Categorical vs. hypothetical imperatives
• Universalizability test for duty (four examples)

2
Second formulation of the categorical imperative

• Treat other people not merely as a means, but
  also as an end.
• We always use other people, but Kant thinks its
  wrong to treat other people just as instruments,
  as things to be used for other purposes.

3
Kant and Aristotle

• Kant takes as fundamental the notion of dutythe
  right action done from a respect for the moral
  law. A good person will be one who acts this way
  (from duty)
• Aristotle thinks a good person will do the right
  thing from inclination. They will want to be
  virtuous. For Aristotle what is fundamental is
  what makes a person virtuous, not what makes a
  particular action right

4
An argument against Kant

• If Kants view is true, some duties are absolute.
  It is always wrong to make a lying promise
• But it is obviously right to make a lying promise
  when you can save an innocent persons life by
  doing so
• Therefore, Kants moral theory is incorrect

5
Utilitarianism

• The right action is the action that, of the
  alternatives available to you, produces the
  greatest net pleasure relative to pain.
• Consequentialism The consequences determine what
  is right or wrong
• Hedonism the only thing that is good for its own
  sake is pleasure. The only thing bad for its own
  sake is pain

6
Is Hedonism true?

• Aristotle and Mill two different conceptions of
  Happiness.
• Aristotle Happiness as pleasure too brutish
• Mill There are different kinds of pleasures. All
  pleasure is good, but human beings can experience
  qualitatively better, higher pleasures.

7
The competent judge argument.

• If intellectual pleasures are preferred over
  physical pleasures by those who experience them
  both, this shows intellectual pleasures are
  superior
• People who have experienced both sorts of
  pleasures prefer intellectual pleasures
• Therefore, intellectual pleasures are superior to
  physical pleasures.

8
What are intellectual and physical pleasures?

• Intellectual pleasures consist of, e.g.
  Appreciation of art, literature, philosophy
  (duh), science.
• What is a physical pleasure? Food and drink and
  sexany pleasure that is shared with non-human
  animals.
• What about the pleasures of casual
  non-intellectual conversation, of sports, etc. ?

9
Is the argument good?

• Do those who prefer intellectual to physical
  pleasures really have adequate experience of
  physical pleasures?
• Does the preference indicate an objective fact
  about the pleasures, or a fact about the kind of
  person who makes the judgment?

10
Utilitarianism and rules

• Moral rules are important but they do not define
  or constitute morality
• Moral rules, such as do not lie are useful
  because they generally provide good advice about
  what actions would produce the most happiness
  relative to unhappiness
• Always possible to have exceptions.

11
Utilitarianism and the virtues

• Virtues are good to cultivate because they are
  character traits that in general lead to actions
  that produce better consequences.

12
A possible counterexample to utilitarianism

• Suppose someone goes to the doctor with a
  headache. The doctor kills this patient and uses
  the organs to save the lives of five other
  people.
• It looks like this doctor performed an action
  that has much better consequences than the
  alternative.
• But was it really the right action?