PHL201 2:30-3:50
Tuesday
October 30, 2001
Daibhidh P. ONeil

Instructor spent the first 7 minutes returning Midterm
#1.
The following scale indicates the breaking points for
grades.

A 32-45
B 28-31
C 23-27
D 18-22
F 00-17

The following 36 minutes were consumed by
discussion of the exam
and questions related to the exam, including, but not
limited to:

44/45 Ought implies can means you should only have
a moral obligation
if it is possible to do a specific thing.

30 Response "d" could be just as valid as "b." Class
at large
argued the point that whenever a law is enacted it is
automatically validated as a just law, that there are no
unjust laws.

34 The class at large argued that the statement is
normative
(opinion-based).

After some discussion, the instructor asked that the
tests be
passed forward.

Utilitarianism:

The right act is the one which maximizes happiness.
(The greatest good for the greatest number.)

The utilitarian theory has two parts:

Theory of value: = Hedonism
What has intrinsic value? Value in its own right?
Pleasure or happiness (treated as synonymous)

The only intrinsic value of hedonism is pleasure or
happiness.

Knowledge has no intrinsic value of its own, but if it
allows
us to make life more comfortable, it has value.

Intrinsically valuable = value for its own sake.
Contrast with:
Instrumentally valuable = value as a means to an end.

Utilitarianists favor euthanasia.

Money has only instrumental value.

Other intrinsic values? Is hedonism right?

Art
Education
Knowledge
Achievement

According to hedonism, you could be a total buffoon
as long
as you have a pleasurable life.

Nozick's Experience Machine:
Imagine having a machine that when hooked up you
could
have any experience you desired and it would seem
real.

Maximum pleasure, but nothing else...

Nozick came up with the idea in 1974
This would be after Philip K. Dick wrote his short story
"We Can Remember
It For You Wholesale," and after the movie "Total
Recall," starring
Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Sharon Stone,
(Novelization by Piers Anthony).


The second part of Utilitarianist Theory was not
discussed today,
so it must be assumed that it will be discussed at a
later date.