Up@dawn 2.0

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Section 14 Group 3 Summary 10/10/12

Okay, sorry guys... I know I'm awful and forgot to put up last Thursday so I'll just post it with this one.

Last Thursday we talked about Jeremy Bentham. He was an English utilitarian. He thought the way to determine what the "right thing to do" was whichever option brought you the most pleasure. He didn't care how the pleasure came about or was produced, one activity was not above another. If rolling around in the mud made you happier than reading a book, then that was what you should do. He called his method for calculating happiness The Felicific Calculus.

Questions for Mills: Who influenced Mills education? How do you feel about the harm principle?
During Tuesday's class, we talked about John Stuart Mill. He was somewhat of an educational experiment and was brought up by his father, James Mill, in a strict educational environment. He was a prodigy. Despite Jeremy Bentham being a family friend, Mill came to disagree with his views. He did agree that you should do whatever makes you happy, but he said there should be different levels of pleasure (higher and lower). Rolling in the mud was certainly not equal to reading a book or going to a classical concert.

Mills also believed that humans were like trees, in the fact that they need space to grow. He said that an individual should be allowed to do whatever he/she pleases and have freedom of speech/free will until it starts to negatively affect others. This was his Harm Principle.

Questions for tomorrow (Marx):
Factual-What was Karl Marx's cause of death?
Discussion- Do you agree with his belief that people could eventually all cooperate together and there would be no need for class structure, religion, or morality?

1 comment:

  1. Kendall Martin 149:25 PM CDT

    Questions for Marx:

    What did Marx declare was "the opium of the people?"
    A: religion

    Why do you think Marx considered religion "the opium of the people?"

    ReplyDelete

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