Philosophy: Normative Ethics: Classical Utilitarianism

[ftwjharris]

@missxrojas you were indeed born a blank slate.

[zegna666]

I've got a philosophy exam that'll include utilitarianism, and our teacher suggested to watch your video saying "well; it is not bad :)". And it was indeed helpful, thanks

[MrNokie0101]

This may actually just save me in a few days time. Thank you, even if time has passed quite a bit.

[missfinola]

wow, you definitely know your stuff. quite interestingg to listen to! 

[MsFreedom2fly]

thought you did a good job explaining things.

[latinchulo13]

Sabes me encanto tu video. Quieres saber algo? Estoy tomando una clase en el lenguaje Chino. But yes I love the English accent, so I'll probably subscribe. Nice vid, hope to see more.

[SunshineLOV1N]

hey. i love your videos! i actually was wondering if you could help me. its 5:30 am in tallahassee, Florida, and i havent slept yet. im studying for my Ethics test at Florida State tomorrow and I cant find the answers to these questions in my books. i was gonna see if the sweet british girl you are might know the answers.

State and explain the normative dimension and the value dimension of Utilitarianism.

.

What are objections to each of these dimensions?

thanks so much!

[AfricanPrince]

cont'd are intrinsically good and bad even if they are instrumentally bad or good. What's 'best' for you is what positively affects your emotional state of mind, not just in the short term, but in the *long-term* as well. Guilt is a form of stress. Without emotion, nothing would matter to us, this is why hedonism makes sense. I can't go into detail but nice video.

[AfricanPrince]

-Humans intuitively believe that they value and disvalue things other than happiness/stress because we're hardwired to associate the objects of our emotions with our emotions. - If a stranger held a gun to a loved one's head or a stranger's head and I could only save one, I might as well save my friend/family member since one has to die regardless, that isn't moral but it's not immoral either. - Pleasure and pain (there are different forms of both, the monks are experiencing a form of pleasure)

[xwill11lfcx]

according to the theory of utilitarianism a gang rape is a good deed, five men are extremely happy leaving 1 women not happy.... theres a little teaser for you

[Trimbler00]

@xwill11lfcx funny, but you're neglecting john stuart mill's conception of high and low level happiness-- gang rape is low level happiness, and therefore invalid.

[ZachVMNTX1]

Nihilism ftw

[benjibunny14]

:O, ive had to study util for religious studies A-level and my god, i hope your reading this and arnt producing this from memory!!!! other wise u surely cant be human!!! =D well done tho

[TheWomblemaster]

if your fringe is evil, does it have negative ethics?

[harrietbabii]

isnt it the hedonic calculus? but really interesting thankyouu

[theasylum1992]

Ha, minus Geography you apparently took the exact same subjects as me.

All I have left is philosophy and ethics, this is quite useful :)

[Freemont100]

"Jim and the indians" is really not that much of a dilemma...

The problem is, why do you trust Jim to keep to his word? The guy is clearly a psychopath, and there is nothing stopping him from going back on his word after you shoot an indian. Further, based on his behavior he is likely to do something like this again some time in the future even if he keeps his word. The ONLY solution is to shoot Jim in the head. Even if you get shot you will be preventing atrocities in the future.

See? Simple.

[ThatUkGuy]

Thanks now I can get drunk and not worry about my Ethics exam as well :)

[eliasbaez69]

woah, can you please explain for an 11th grade mind to understand? I am going to write an essay based on utilitarianism. thank you :)

[KosAAAGH]

Thanks for the vid.. i wouldn't of minded you taking your time more though (: i'm having to pause to take notes

[BruceGumdrop]

You're a babe and I actually love you.

In about 30 minutes you just passed me my exam.

Plus, you look better in that blouse than Bernard Williams ever could.

[KosAAAGH]

@BruceGumdrop

You sound like a paedophile.

[zabuca]

How'd you get so smart??? And what books are you reading because you make it sound so fun & exciting when we all know these text books put us all to sleep!!! lol .. All the best...

[AlexiusTheFirst]

zabuca:

Why is she so smart? She went to a private school where ALL the other girls were White.

No Blacks or Asians to drag the Whites down to their level.

[zabuca]

Some people will say Anything for attention!!!! Lmao.....

[thunderzol]

my grandma wants to know where you got that blouse

[joetavish]

lmao

[andyissemicool]

Hahahahaha, hilarious.

[joydrop2012]

Wow! thanks for that summary of utilitarianism. when you where describing hedonism it sounding like you were really talking about masturbation. haha, god bless

[bantasingh22]

hi.... u r happy to post these kind of videos ...n I find happiness by listening u... :) ....so keep it up

[Dehax]

cant take british accent anymore sorry

[21mattg21]

then fuck off (in a british accent)

[addicted2rpg]

For some reason YouTube recommended this video for me. Odd.... I don't recall entering any queries for philosophy videos. I mean, there's the TED lectures, but that's different. Why was this video recommended again?? Strange fuzzy logic behind it all, darn you YT.

Umm, no offense, but it seems like your reciting for an exam. On the bright side, I believe you'll ace it.

[daviddoyle1978]

Honey trap. Am I being monitored now?

[nrjelley]

your R.E course sounds horrible, what exam board was it?

[TheVarangian]

Damn it I forgot. 1) Excuse my bad English from before. 2) You mentioned the example of the captain the soldier and the 20 people that should be shoot. A old man from the village I live had the luxury to fight in the second world war. He fought on the side of the Axis. One day a german officer ordered him to shoot some hebrews. He shot the officer instead :P With this I wanted to say that each ones has his own moral filters. He did shot a man but saved innocents.

[MissJane1989]

That is a good example of a problem with some utilitarian idea. What is good for one person is not nessisarily good for another person, due to individual differences

[searchher1]

Pity about the quality but it improves at the end, I enjoyed that thanks

[jayraskin]

Its a very good discussion of utilitarianism.

I showed this in my intro to philosophy class last week. The students enjoyed it. Thanks.

[lukon100]

Shit. I'm so jealous of your intellectual acumen. If I had but 1/4th of your intellectual energy I'd be dangerous.

[mordinvan]

as for you forcing children to go to school argument.

I think you're looking too short term in terms of pleasure pain analysis, I'd also prefer the term cost/benefit ratio, as I use a similar ethical method, but I don't always look to do things to make myself feel better, but often to make others feel less worse.

[JTsmiley14]

Good lecture. I think we should remember that inaction amounts to immorality. Not killing one person to save twenty is to, in a sense (and I stress IN A SENSE), a crime of inaction. Well, I guess only if you're a consequentialist.

[bdf2718]

Interesting psychological study.

If you're in a 1/20 situation and you can divert a runaway train so it kills one, most people will do it. If it's a matter of pushing some immensely fat bastard off a bridge that will bring the train to a halt, most people will not do it.

[seahawks2050]

Pure and simple its evil because it asks man to exist in a contradiction with reality, men are not equal in countless respects. The man offered "kill one or I kill all", should have taken that offer and killed the man making the offer, that is the only moral choice.

[JTsmiley14]

But you're subverting the intention of the (admittedly poor) analogy. I agree, but you're exposing a flaw in the argument, rather than answering the question.

[iskman]

how do you remember this stuff

[loktkey]

Why does your video keep skipping??

[babeintoylandx]

Very good! A few rusty points that need expanding a bit, but very engaging and thought-out nonetheless, nice job!

[emshablamin]

Thank you so much! I understand this so much better than lecture!

[basch2020]

1:50 "The happiness of any one person is no more important than the happiness of another person" - No, Utilitarianism is based around Bentham's Greatest happiness principle: "better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied" etc.

[SuperJesus316]

That's a quote from Mill's Utilitarianism, not Bentham. It was Mill that introduced 'quality' in happiness, and he argued that, while Socrates may have less happiness than a fool, his happiness is of higher quality than the fool. In introducing "quality" into the formula, he departed from classical Utilitarianism of the Bentham kind. I wonder why you got voted up.

[mirage241]

well done. i remember when i did this at a-level. you've reaaaaaally remembered alot...

[zero12o]

Thank you so much this makes it easy to understand or at least gets me the right direction.

[neothomist1275]

"The rule and measure of duty is not utility, nor expedience, nor the happiness of the greatest number, nor State convenience, nor fitness, order, and the pulchrum. Conscience is not a long-sighted selfishness, nor a desire to be consistent with oneself; but it is a messenger from Him who both in nature and in grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us." -- John Henry Newman

[TheInfinite91]

Hey guess what, I am using you as a reference in my assignment. Not through a quote or anything, but just something that stimulated my ideas. Thanks.

[BadlanAlun]

The other day I put in a greivance against someone at work because he threatened me and was racist to another staff member. It was not a pleasure for me, it was just a damned headache, his wife is my immediate boss and he is obviously unhappy at being suspended. In all I have achieved very little pleasure from the experience, yet I still went ahead because I thought of it as the RIGHT thing to do. Therefore though I believe in the concept of Utilitarianism, I do not see it as all encompassing

[bigirish45789]

nice. enjoyed it, but the argument against the arguments against utilitarianism were off. we pursue goals that don't seem to be pleasurable only to attain a certain degree of independence, and that independence procures certain liberties such as the ability to watch what we want on tv, or bring someone home, without worrying about our roommates opinion. we all seek pleasure, but must work for that pleasure, in my opinion

[SupawSimba]

Oh no! To think when I go into year 12 next year I am going to have to revise all of this for Ethics!!

[gopidravid]

nice vid.. U no alot.. but for the weaknes's U cud also mention that it is an addition paradox, because it suggests if someone unhappy was born they should be dead. as well as negative utalitarianism and two level? u may have mentioned it not sure lol

[humder]

I shall be taking the same exam as you. Good luck!

[Sproehlich]

Excellent, well done : )

[bookwormchris]

I remember Bentham and Mills from my cluster. I still have the stuff somewhere at home. *points south*

[rhiannonmei]

You sound as if you understand what you're talking about. I'm actually learning something from watching your philosophy videos xD... which is a good thing. I wonder if my school offers the class.

[missxrojas]

You can't, he has soldiers behind him who will kill you and all the native americans too! DILEMMA!

[missxrojas]

The Captain is a mean mean man, obviously.

[orin12345678]

Hey! I was really happy when I saw you're doing philosophy. It's an interesting subject I never had the chance to study, so I'm really enjoying this!

Also - good luck!

[missxrojas]

I'm glad you're enjoying it and thank you!

[celia10]

oh god im not looking forward to it. ive been vomiting all day dont know whether ill be like able to go in?! x

[missxrojas]

yeah it's terrifying, terrifying and a little bit more terrifying. xx

[cycoG]

i wish i had the motivation to revise as much as u do .. i had a physics paper and a physics resit at 2 pm today and i started revising at 6 am. im an idiot, i know but i just cannot get off the internetz

[missxrojas]

I forced myself to go to school where facebook, youtube and gmail are inaccessible during study leave. Urrghh..

Right now I should be revising but I'm replying to comments.. obviously.. oh dear.

[cycoG]

haha schools like an hour away for me and when im at school i just go on blogs and stuff and then go on facebook when im home. and also at school i cant concentrate in the sixth form room/ library coz people talk. haha

[xweetokfairy]

narcasist much? i stopped watching it when u said stop this friggin sucks ur so up urself no offense cos the book videos are good

[seriously98]

wow interesting topic

you explain it really well :)

[missxrojas]

thank you :) I'm glad you find it interesting, I think it's a pretty cool subject.

[Dabby2]

CITE YOUR SOURCES

[missxrojas]

I have no sources! I have notes from class! Burn me at the stake!

[craazydina]

this would be REALLY helpful if i was studying the topic haha hope you do well!

[missxrojas]

Thank you! Haha I hope some people who have philosophy exams coming up find it useful.

[emperessemma]

Good luck, I'm sure you will do well. =]

I'm now off for french revision. Funsies.

x

[missxrojas]

Bonne chance!

[ajgenius]

Whee. This is fascinating. Glaciers can be interesting and all, but it gets a bit boring just listing facts about ice movement. Whereas this stuff is simply fun to think about. Though that may just be me.

[missxrojas]

It's me too. Glaciers are great (hah) but they're a bit too big, erosional, physical and dimension-y.

[ilovemugglenet]

Good luck with your exams. Hope you do well! :)

Ashley :) :)

[missxrojas]

Thank you! I hope so too ;)

[Nagakama]

Ah, Philosophy. I had a semester long class of it this year, which I enjoyed.

Always had to laugh a little at the fact that you found the best path (most moral, I suppose?) to take when in a dilemma by adding up subjective numbers. :)

[missxrojas]

It's really interesting but a lot harder than I ever thought.

Yep, sometimes you wonder whether if these philosophers just took a second to really *think* about their wonderful theory they would realise the gaping flaws!

[smellyduck3]

GL and I hope you have done well!

[missxrojas]

Thank you!

[joseph2442]

I study Ethics and Philosophy too, so this will be helpful for me aswell.

Cheers :)

[missxrojas]

I'm glad! Are you enjoying your course?

[joseph2442]

Not really, I enjoy maths more than E&P! It is a lot different to GCSE RS which I enjoyed, you don't seem to form your own opinions it is all about what this guy thought, and this guy thought he was wrong.

Is your exam tomorrow?

[missxrojas]

Yep, in the afternoon. The clock's ticking.

[chanelemma15]

good luck on your exams!

[missxrojas]

ta very much :)

[darkpaladin111]

ah so your doing ethics? i study the philosophy of religion and epistemology (hell) good luck!

[missxrojas]

We do epistemology too - I'm revising it right now and it's a serious pain, so much to remember! Thank you!

[darkpaladin111]

woo for phenomenalism :S ive got my philosophy exam tomorrow, so gonna fail empistemology, too much to handle