Mill / Mill - Tutorial Preparation Sheet

L ecture 10 – Mill

1. Background questions:

1. What is ACT Utilitarianism?

2. What is RULE Utilitarianism?

3. Why was Rule Utilitarianism proposed?

4. Bentham thought we could use Utilitarianism to define what it is to be good, but it isn’t always a good way to decide what is the right thing to do. Why not?

5. What are ‘Secondary Principles’?

6. What’s the justification for liberty (for example, for free speech?)

2. Tutorial discussion questions:

7. Suppose you and your friends were exploring a cave on the beach when you became trapped by the tide coming in. If you can't get out you'll all be drowned. Luckily there's a hole at the back that you can escape through. Unfortunately the first one to try to escape is your fattest friend, who of course becomes immovably stuck. The only way to get out now is to use the dynamite that you always carry with you to clear the blockage. What do you do? Blow up your ‘large’ friend and escape, or let the fat friend live and yourself suffer a watery doom?

8. Mill thought that “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides.” Do you agree with this?

9. Mill’s Harm Principle states “That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.” What does this mean?