In ancient Rome, Christians were fed to the lions in a public spectacle intended to entertain the masses. Which of the following sounds most like something that Mill might say about this situation?:
a) Since all pleasures are of the same quality, all that matters, morally speaking, is the quantity of pleasure that the crowd derives from the spectacle minus the quantity of pain experienced by the Christians who are being fed to the lions.
b) The principle of utility is a good theory in most situations. But in extreme situations like this, we need to do what is moral rather than what the principle of utility tells us to do. For this reason, it is wrong to feed the Christians to the lions.
c) Some pleasures, because they are of a low quality, do not deserve to be given equal weight or priority when deciding what to do. The pleasure obtained from watching someone being fed to a lion is likely to be one such pleasure. So the pain suffered by the Christians should factor into my deliberations more heavily than the pleasure enjoyed by the spectators.
d) b and c.
e) a and c.
4 answers
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