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

Test—Mill

Please answer 100 points’ worth of the following questions during this class period. Don’t answer every question; if you do, I’ll ignore your answer to the last 10-point one. In answering these questions don’t use books, notes, or other people.

1. (20 points:) Mill discusses two approaches to developing theories of morality: intuitionism and inductivism. Which of these does he advocate, and what are his two chief distinct (although Mill does not distinguish them very clearly himself) complaints about the other approach?
2. (10 points:) What is Mill’s objection to Kant’s moral theory?
3. (10 points:) How rigorous a proof does Mill think it’s possible to provide in defense of utilitarianism? (Note that this question is not about the content of Mill’s proof, but is about what sort of proof Mill thinks is even possible in regard to theories of final ends, such as utilitarianism, and what sort of proof(s) Mill regards rival theorists as having given for their theories.)
4. (10 points:) What does Mill say are the two replies that utilitarians can give in order to answer the “doctrine worthy only of swine” objection?
5. (10 points:) How does Mill distinguish good motives from bad ones? What, according to Mill, is the moral significance of the motive from which someone acts?
6. (20 points:) What is the difference between the tasks in which Mill is engaged in chapters 3 and 4, respectively?
7. (10 points:) How does Mill reply to the claim that not only happiness, but also things such as virtue, are desirable?
8. (20 points:) What is the strongest evidence in favor of the view that Mill is a rule utilitarian?