Multiple Choice Quiz

Mill defines "utility" as:

usefulness for some craft.

usefulness to society.

pleasure and the absence of pain.

the satisfaction of desire.

When faced with the complaint that utilitarianism is a doctrine worthy of swine, Mill responds that pleasures differ in:

purity.

quality.

species.

weight.

In response to the objection that happiness is impossible to attain, Mill notes that:

utilitarianism understands happiness to be a life of few pains and various pleasures, not a life of constant rapture.

even if happiness is impossible, the prevention and mitigation of unhappiness is not.

both a and b.

neither a nor b.

Mill claims that in deciding how to act:

we should always calculate the expected consequences of our action.

we should depend on rules of thumb derived from the principle of utility.

we should consult tradition.

we should consult scripture.

Mill claims that the principle of utility:

can be proven from self-evident principles.

can be proven from principles that are known empirically.

cannot be proven, and this is a unique problem for the theory.

cannot be proven, but this is common to all first principles.

Mill argues that virtue:

is not desirable.

is desirable only as a means to one's own happiness.

is desirable only as a means to the happiness of others.

is desirable as part of one's happiness.

Mill claims that one of the strongest objections to utilitarianism is drawn from the idea of:

duty.

justice.

virtue.

supererogation.

Mill claims that the distinction between justice and other moral obligations corresponds perfectly to the distinction between:

perfect and imperfect obligations.

positive and negative duties.

strong and weak duties.

absolute and relative obligations.

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