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

Test—Mill (make-up)

Please answer 100 points’ worth of the following questions in the next 50 minutes. 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. (10 points:) Mill neither thoroughly defends nor thoroughly condemns common-sense morality. What relationship does Mill perceive there to be between common-sense morality and utilitarianism that makes Mill have some appreciation for common-sense morality, and in what way(s) does Mill regard common-sense morality as deficient or in need of utilitarian correction?
  2. (10 points:) What is Mill’s objection to Kant’s moral theory?
  3. (10 points:) How, according to Mill, can someone act rightly from a bad motive?
  4. (20 points:) What is the difference between the tasks in which Mill is engaged in chapters 3 and 4, respectively?
  5. (20 points:) What are the two most commonly cited problems with Mill’s “proof” of the principle of utility?
  6. (10 points:) What, according to Mill, makes an act one of wrongdoing and not just inexpediency, and what further condition does Mill say must be satisfied in order for an act of wrongdoing to be one of injustice?
  7. (10 points:) What are two of the questions that Mill mentions as examples of ones to which the idea of justice applies ambiguously? For each of the two questions you mention, give at least two of the conflicting answers that may be said to be provided by the idea of justice.
  8. (20 points:) Does Mill regard justice as a supremely important part of morality, a moderately important part, or an unimportant part? Explain.