Consider the following thought experiment:
One night towards the end of the semester, you and your best friend find yourselves at your favorite nightclub in Miami. The objective of the night is simple: Grab some drinks, relax, people watch, and when the time is right, dance the night away. This is particularly good for you, as the semester was a very busy one; you had a lot of class work, and this is the first time in about a month that you can enjoy the company of your best friend. As the night goes on, you see that your friend is behaving slightly differently. Your friend has been drinking a little more than usual, and dancing more suggestively with members of their preferred sex. You wonder how your friend’s significant other would feel about this; they have been dating now for over a year, and seemed quite committed to one another. After some time, though, this thought fades. Later in the evening, your friend approaches you and tells you the following: “Hey, I need you to do something for me. I’m going to turn my cellphone off and hook up with the person behind me. If my significant other calls you, tell ‘em that I’m fine, but my phone is out of batteries. Lie for me!”
Now, respond to the following prompts:
In between 1 – 3 paragraphs, give me a general descriiption of the utilitarian theory. Your descriiption should include:
An explanation of the notion of ‘consequentialism’ and justification as to why utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism.
An understanding of what, from the utilitarian perspective, counts as a “good” consequence—i.e. what makes for a morally right consequence?
A brief descriiption of how utilitarianism works in application.
Make sure you cite any quotations or paraphrases in the MLA Format. I’m expecting you to quote or paraphrase at least a couple times in these paragraphs.
Now that you’ve done that, give me 1 paragraph where you apply utilitarianism to the above thought experiment.
In other words, from the utilitarian perspective, it is morally right for you to lie to your best friend’s significant other so that your best friend can cheat on them? Why or why not?
Lastly, consider some of the criticisms of the theory that you have encountered in our class—either from my lectures or from the class readings.
Pick one of these criticisms.
In at least one paragraph, explain this criticism. How and why is the criticism you have chosen a problem for utilitarianism?
Make sure to cite any quotations or paraphrases in the MLA format. I’m expecting you to quote or paraphrase at least a couple of times here.
