| A | B |
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| J.S. Mill was worried about the _____________of the majority | tyranny |
| A tyrant is like a ___________ | bully |
| A tyrant can force people to think and act in certain ways, and in a tyranny of the majority, the _______of people are forced to conform to the norms of the majority | minority |
| self-regarding action | an action that has consequences for oneself but not for others |
| other-regarding action | an action that not only has consequences for oneself but for others as well |
| Mill's Harm Principle | "the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. 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" |
| If the Harm Principle comes in conflict with the need to maximize happiness in utilitarianism, which one tends to win out? | Maximizing happiness for the greatest number of people |
| Besides the idea of harming a few in the interest of promoting the overall happiness of society, what is another chief weakness of utilitarianism? | The measurement problem. How can one measure all consequences, at the moment and into the far future? |
| An advantage of utilitarianism | People are focussing on achieving the happiness of the group and not just their own happiness. |
| Weakness of higher/lower pleasures idea | The distinction needs to go outside the principle of utility as such, since a certain view of human nature is being assumed in determining what is higher and what is lower. |
| Strength of Harm Principle | It tries to correct for the problem in utilitarianism where the few can be sacrificed for the sake of the happiness of the majority |
| Weaknesses of the Harm Principle | 1) When push comes to shove, utility tends to override protection of innocent; 2) it appeals to a concept of human rights that goes outside of the theory of utility, and thus utilitarianism isn't internally, conceptually consistent. |
| Two ways that a tyranny of the majority can influence behavior of others | ostracism and criticism |
| Whose unhappiness might illicit drug users not be considering when deciding to use drugs? | The unhappiness of the people affected by violence of drug wars in drug producing countries |
| Consequences of which people need to be taken into account in considering using illicit drugs? | Self, family, friends, people in US, people in drug-producing countries |
| Destroying houses to make room for a freeway | an example of the principle of utility overriding the Harm Principle |
| Utilitarianism can be said to be an improvement over ethical egoism because | It considers everyone's self interest, not just one person's. |
| Utilitarianism is different from ethical relativism because | In the former happiness for the majority is the focus; for the latter, not necessarily so |
