15 Aug Reading Questions.
Answer two of the following essay questions. One question could be around 300 words, another could be 2
00 words. And I have attached the reading material. You do not need to read the whole reading.
For answering the following questions, you ONLY need to read the
Chapter 1: General Remarks (pp. 5-9)
Chapter 2: What Utilitarianism Is (pp.9-26)
1. According to an early utilitarian thinker, Jeremy Bentham, all pleasures are equal. Pushpin (the eighteenth-century equivalent of an arcade game like pinball) can be as good as, or even better than, poetry. John Stuart Mill, on the other hand, proposes higher and lower pleasures. Do you agree with J. S. Mill? Why? (In your response, please describe how to determine whether a pleasure is lower or higher.)
2. Remember the trolley Problems (Switch, Footbridge). You have two options in each case (below).
a. What would you do in scenario 1 (Switch)?
i. Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people on the main track.
ii. Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person.
b. What would you do in scenario 2 (Footbridge)
i. Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people.
ii. Push the large man off the bridge, so that he dies, but the five others are saved.
Are your responses in these two scenarios consistent? In your response, please explain how these two scenarios are different/similar (e.g., Doing vs. Allowing Harm, Intending vs. Foreseeing Harm, physical proximity, and so forth.)
3. Do you think there is a contradiction between Mills utilitarianism concerning the welfare state and his ideas on liberty (e.g., the concern about the tyranny of the majority)?
4. According to J. S. Mill, the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm from others. However, children and uncivilized societies are considered as exceptions. Do you agree? In your response, describe the harm principle and discuss whether paternalism is justified in those exceptional circumstances.
5. Do you agree with the utilitarian justification of the free speech? In your response, describe how free speech is grounded on utilitarianism and explain why or why not you agree with it.
2. Remember the trolley Problems (Switch, Footbridge). You have two options in each case (below).
a. What would you do in scenario 1 (Switch)?
i. Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people on the main track.
ii. Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person.
b. What would you do in scenario 2 (Footbridge)
i. Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people.
ii. Push the large man off the bridge, so that he dies, but the five others are saved.
Are your responses in these two scenarios consistent? In your response, please explain how these two scenarios are different/similar (e.g., Doing vs. Allowing Harm, Intending vs. Foreseeing Harm, physical proximity, and so forth.)
3. Do you think there is a contradiction between Mills utilitarianism concerning the welfare state and his ideas on liberty (e.g., the concern about the tyranny of the majority)?
4. According to J. S. Mill, the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm from others. However, children and uncivilized societies are considered as exceptions. Do you agree? In your response, describe the harm principle and discuss whether paternalism is justified in those exceptional circumstances.
5. Do you agree with the utilitarian justification of the free speech? In your response, describe how free speech is grounded on utilitarianism and explain why or why not you agree with it.
