Q For next week, please read (1) John Stuart Mill, “Utilitarianism,” pp. 140 – 150, and (2) Peter Singer, “The Drowning Child,” [PDF]. +Questions for Consideration – Mill: What is Mill’s theory of pleasure ? He provides a detailed account of distinctions among pleasures. What are they ? What do you make of this ? Do you endorse this or find it problematic? What is Mill’s definition of happiness ? What do you make of it ? What do you like or dislike about it? Why? What is Mill’s point about a “sense of dignity” on top of page 143 ? What is Mill’s point about conflating happiness and content in the middle of page 143 ? What does Mill mean when he offers the pig and Socrates comparison ? + Questions for Consideration: Singer • What is the narrative constituting Singer’s thought experiment? • Do you think it is important that he uses the word “obligation” when asking about one’s relation toward the child’s rescue? Why or why not? • Feel free to respond to some of the questions that Singer poses to his students: 1.) Do you have any obligation to rescue the child? 2.) Does it make a difference if there are other people walking by the pond who have an equal chance of saving the child, but are not doing so? 3.) Does it make a difference if the child is far away in another county in a comparable situation of risk (i.e., likely death) and equally within your means to save at no cost and danger to yourself? • In paragraph 5, Singer says “I am always truck by how few students challenge the underlying ethics of the idea that we ought to save the lives of strangers when we can do so at relatively little cost to ourselves.” What does he mean by this? Why do you think he is continuously surprised? • How do you understand “global responsibility” in your own terms? • How does Singer define “global responsibility” throughout the essay? • Who is Ivan Boesky and why is he mentioned in this article? • In what ways do you see Singer continuing the theory of Mill? • In what ways do you see Singer breaking with Mill’s utilitarian theory? • At the end of the essay, Singer says “We need to see ethics as opposed to self-interest.” What would Nietzsche say about this? What does Singer mean by this? What is your critical take on this matter? • How does Singer define and address “the ethical life” ? What do you make of this ?

View Related Questions