Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Read to p. 293.
Bentham, Mill, Frege
Jeremy Bentham (The first Utilitarian) 1748-1832
Hedonism ("Hee-dun-izm"), or the pleasure principle, ultimately stemming from Epicurus. Bentham's great innovation is his claim that hedonism doesn't necessarily have to be egostic (egotistic?). It can be social. "The greatest happiness of the greatest number." To determine whether a specific act produces happiness one must (among other things) consider the consequences. Consequentialism, as opposed to Kant's view that it is the intention of the agent that determines the moral value of the act. (In Kant's case it was the sense of duty and reason that determined the morality of an act.) Consider the pros and cons of these two theories on the basis of the examples given on p. 278-9. Bentham's Calculus of Felicity, with its seven parameters.
John Stuart Mill (1808-1873)
Mill transgresses the Benthamite committment to absolute democracy in the area of aesthetic and perhaps moral judgments as well. Some pleasures are qualitatively better than others: more lofty or elevated. Elitism? Mills "laissez-faire" policy. Hands off (of the lives of the citizens). No such thing as a victimless crime. (But can we draw the line in modern society between personal health (e.g. smoking or obesity) and public policy? Then a liberal, now a moderate or even conservative, politically. The role of education in a democracy.
Gottlob Frege (1848-1925)
Important pioneer of what is now called analytic philosophy. Realism vs. idealism (and metaphysics). The analysis of meaning. Natural languages vs. artificial logical language ("behind" the natural languages?); influence on Russell and Wittgenstein. 1789, the publication of Frege's Begriffschrift. Read through pages 287-291 in class.
Bentham, Mill, Frege
Jeremy Bentham (The first Utilitarian) 1748-1832
Hedonism ("Hee-dun-izm"), or the pleasure principle, ultimately stemming from Epicurus. Bentham's great innovation is his claim that hedonism doesn't necessarily have to be egostic (egotistic?). It can be social. "The greatest happiness of the greatest number." To determine whether a specific act produces happiness one must (among other things) consider the consequences. Consequentialism, as opposed to Kant's view that it is the intention of the agent that determines the moral value of the act. (In Kant's case it was the sense of duty and reason that determined the morality of an act.) Consider the pros and cons of these two theories on the basis of the examples given on p. 278-9. Bentham's Calculus of Felicity, with its seven parameters.
John Stuart Mill (1808-1873)
Mill transgresses the Benthamite committment to absolute democracy in the area of aesthetic and perhaps moral judgments as well. Some pleasures are qualitatively better than others: more lofty or elevated. Elitism? Mills "laissez-faire" policy. Hands off (of the lives of the citizens). No such thing as a victimless crime. (But can we draw the line in modern society between personal health (e.g. smoking or obesity) and public policy? Then a liberal, now a moderate or even conservative, politically. The role of education in a democracy.
Gottlob Frege (1848-1925)
Important pioneer of what is now called analytic philosophy. Realism vs. idealism (and metaphysics). The analysis of meaning. Natural languages vs. artificial logical language ("behind" the natural languages?); influence on Russell and Wittgenstein. 1789, the publication of Frege's Begriffschrift. Read through pages 287-291 in class.
# posted by Michael @ 6:04 PM 
