What is a consequentialist ethical theory?
1. What is a consequentialist ethical theory?
2. What is the difference between an end and a means?
3. What is an intuition pump?
4. What is utilitarianism? What is the principle of utility?
5. What is hedonism?
6. What is Jeremy Bentham’s hedonistic calculus? What characteristics of a pleasure or pain does it take into account?
7. How do Panza & Potthast understand Mill’s distinction between higher pleasures and lower pleasures? (NOTE: Panza & Potthast get it wrong! So we’ll be revisiting the issue when we read Mill.)
8. What does it mean to say that utilitarianism is an impartial ethical theory?
9. What is the greatest happiness principle?
10. What is the difference between act utilitarianism (the direct approach) and rule utilitarianism (the indirect approach)?
11. Why do some critics of utilitarianism say that justice and rights are not taken seriously enough by utilitarians?
12. What is the supererogatory, and why is this category a problem for utilitarianism?
13. Why do some critics of utilitarianism think that it threatens personal integrity?