CHAPTER 12 Part 2- Summary & Quiz – Jeremy Bentham, Principles of Morals and Legislation
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Chapter I: On the Principle of
... [Show More] Utility
Pain and pleasure indicate what we ought to do and determine what we shall do. The principle of utility assumes this fact as the foundation of its system and judges every action and measure of government by its tendency to increase or decrease the happiness of the community, where the interests of the community are understood as the pleasure and pain of the individual members of that community. An action is right if it conforms to that principle.
Chapter IV: Value of a Lot of Pleasure or Pain, How Measured
The value of a pleasure or pain is to be measured by its intensity, duration, certainty, closeness in time, fecundity, purity, and extent. Determining the value of an action thus involves calculating, summing, and multiplying the relevant values. Although this need not be done in detail in each case, it is the ultimate standard of right and wrong.
True/False Section [5 Questions]
1. Bentham believes that pain and pleasure are the only things that motivate human beings.
2. Bentham believes that pain and pleasure are, ultimately, the only things on which people should base their decisions about what to do.
3. According to Bentham, the value of a pleasure or pain for you is greater when it is your own than when it is someone else's.
4. Bentham evaluates an action based not only on the pleasure or pain it causes directly, but also on the amount of pleasure or pain it will cause in the future.
5. Bentham's procedure for calculating the goodness of an action counts everyone's pleasure and pain equally.
Multiple Choice Section [5 Questions]
1. Which of the following best captures the basic question that Jeremy Bentham is trying to answer in these excerpts from An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation?
2. What does Bentham believe should be the ultimate guide of all decisions concerning morality and legislation?
3. Which of the following best captures Bentham's argument for the principle of utility?
4. Why does Bentham discuss the intensity, duration, propinquity (i.e., closeness in time), and certainty of pleasures and pains?
5. Which of the following best describes Bentham's procedure for calculating the goodness or badness of an action? [Show Less]