Activity 2: Utilitarianism

Study Questions:
1. Are all pleasures measurable? Can they be evaluated on a single scale? Can some
goods, like friendships, be balanced against other goods, like money? (5 points)
No, I do not believe pleasures can be quantified because the manner we
discovered pleasures within ourselves was so diverse. I don't think money and
friendship are in the same category of "good," and when we talk about friendship and
money, it's not balanced. Money is a means to an end, not a goal in itself; you will see
that owning money is a means to secure the lower level essential necessities, but not to
achieving the higher level demands of self-actualization. I appreciated the pleasures I
received from my friends more than money. When we have what we want, money may
provide us with joys, and if we work hard enough, we can easily find money, but a
genuine friendship is hard to come by.
2. Mill revises utilitarianism by arguing for “higher” pleasures. Which pleasures are
higher? (5 points)
The "higher" pleasures, according to John Stuart Mill, go beyond the hedonistic,
physical pleasures of limitless desires and raging emotions. Pleasure and the absence
of pain are the only things of intrinsic worth; these are equated with happiness. The
pleasures that depend on uniquely human abilities are greater than those we share with
dogs and pigs. Apparently, the higher pleasures are those that produce the greatest
good for the most people. For example, the pleasure of learning new things or helping
others is worth more utility points than the pleasure of rolling around in some pleasant
cool mud. By considering the consensus of experienced observers, we can determine
which pleasures are more valued.

3. Is it justifiable to build a basketball court because there are basketball fans, than to
build hospital because there are fewer sick people? (5 points)
Apparently we should not make that choice simply based on the number of
users. Further, suppose the hospital is funded by basketball ticket sales. In this case,
not only should we build the court, but we should build a Hospital it because there are
fewer sick people at this point in time, that don’t mean there won’t be sick, injured or
elderly people in need of a hospital tomorrow, or the day after. If there is a chance we
can choose both of them to build on.

4. When is it justifiable to torture suspected criminals? (5 points)

For me, torture can never be ethically justified under any circumstances.
Because it causes harm and does not produce useful results. Torture of suspects is
always and invariably wrong and criminal. Torture does not produce “truth”. It produces
the results the torturer wants to hear, all it does is provide the torturer a sick sense of
satisfaction. It is always wrong to cause pain in another sentient being. Any person who
tortures another is strictly evil; regardless of whatever they may have convinced
themselves is their intention. Torturing a person as a punishment fails utterly since it
only results in deep scars and aversion to the people or locations where the torture
occurred, never to the acts that may have resulted in such a punishment. That’s what
Human Laws are made for.

5. Do you agree that happiness is the pursuit of pleasures and the avoidance of pain,
and that all actions are directed toward pleasure? (5 points)
Happiness is our natural state. It is our unconditioned true nature. We can't
acquire happiness because we already have it. I do not believe that the pursuit of
happiness is to be in avoidance of pain, because in that case it would be escapism
which would ultimately land us in a cyclical loop of quick happiness and pain. Directing
all our actions to the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of the pain will only create
frustration in our lives whenever that end goal is not met. Happiness is Being happy,
doesn’t mean to always be smiling it is a mindset where you dedicate your life to doing
what makes you feel good, with a complete self-awareness and clarity that allows you to
not depend on external things but only your own perception of the world. However, in
pursuit of happiness, by understanding and working through our pain and downfalls is
what leads to true happiness. By doing this you are letting go of the pain to embrace
and appreciate your happiness.