University of Kansas, Fall 2003
Philosophy 672: History of Ethics
Ben Eggleston—eggleston@ku.edu

Assignment—Mill

Your assignment is either to take the test on Mill’s Utilitarianism or to write a paper on that book. Note that, by the end of the semester, you must have taken tests on two of the four books in the course, and written papers on the other two.

You are welcome, though, to complete both of these assignments: to take the test and to write the paper. Then I’ll grade both of them and count whichever grade will help your overall grade more. This would be a good thing to do if you are nervous about either assignment and want a risk-free way of doing it and seeing what grade you would get. Here are the two options for Mill’s Utilitarianism.

I. Test

The test will be given in class on Wednesday, December 10, and will consist of 110 or 120 points’ worth of the questions numbered 36–55 in my lecture notes. You will be asked to select 100 points’ worth of questions and to answer them. (Please bring a blue book or some blank paper on which to write your answers.)

II. Paper

The paper option is to write a paper of not more than 2,000 words on either (1) one of the following topics or (2) some other topic that you would like to propose to me (in which case, just let me know, and we can discuss it). Your paper will be due at my office at 10:30 a.m., on Friday, December 12.

  1. Question 37, from the notes, plus: By the end of Utilitarianism, does it seem that Mill has a clear and coherent attitude towards common-sense morality, or is it impossible to unify Mill’s various remarks for and against common-sense morality into a one consistent overall assessment?
  2. Question 41, from the notes, plus: Do you regard the standard objection as succeeding? If so, is there some variation on Mill’s doctrine that would take what Mill calls the “higher ground” equally well, or is any attempt to take this “higher ground” bound to fail? And if not (i.e., if you do not regard the standard objection as succeeding), how would you rebut it?
  3. Question 49, from the notes, plus: To what extent does Mill succeed in completing these tasks, and to what extent does Mill thereby succeed in refuting the justice-related objection?
  4. Questions 54 and 55, from the notes, plus: Which interpretation do you find more compelling, and why?

In writing your paper you are welcome to use resources beyond those used in class, but you do not need to do so. For additional suggestions about writing philosophy papers generally, see my “Guidelines for Writing a Philosophy Paper.”