Study Guides

Unit Summary

In this unit pupils will use a philosophical lens to consider what we mean by good. They will examine various ethical answers given such deontology, utilitarianism and situation ethics. They will conclude by weighing up the issue of suffering in the world.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to apply utilitarian ethics to scenarios as a way of demonstrating knowledge of teleological ethics.

Key Notes

• Teleological ethics focuses on the outcomes or consequences of actions rather than the actions themselves.
• Utilitarianism aims to produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
• The good is equated with happiness and actions are considered right if they lead to more happiness than pain.
• Utilitarianism can be critcised, e.g., it is difficult to calculate how much happiness an action would produce.

Vocabulary To Learn

• teleogical ethics: ethical theories that focus on the outcomes or consequences of an action
• greatest good: the idea that actions should aim to produce the most happiness for the most people
• Jeremy Bentham: an 18th-century philosopher and social reformer who developed utilitarianism
• utilitarianism: an ethical theory that focuses on achieving the greatest good for the greatest number of people

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• Utilitarianism does not argue that any action is acceptable as long as it makes the majority happy.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Deontology and Immanuel Kant Study Guide
• Situation ethics Study Guide
• Suffering and compassion Study Guide
• The nature of human goodness Study Guide
• Virtue ethics Study Guide