However, you must write your paper independently, in your own words, expressing your own ideas. Suggested Paper Topics 1. As we discussed in class, one of the main problem with Rule Utilitarianism is that it threatens to collapse into Act Utilitarianism. However, J. L. Mackie concludes that the threatened collapse can be avoided by taking rules to be social realities. Clearly explain the problem for Rule Utilitarianism, and then expand upon Mackie s proposed solution.
Utilitarianism seems to have many blatantly counterintuitive consequences.
For example, common sense judges that it is wrong to kill innocent people, but utilitarianism says that in some situations killing the innocent is permissible, even mandatory. Likewise, most people share the intuition that there is nothing wrong with eating meat, but utilitarianism says this is morally wrong. So utilitarianism disagrees with common sense. Discuss these issues with attention to Nielsen s argument against moral conservativism. Suppose that a woman voluntarily engages in intercourse, knowing of the chance it will issue in pregnancy, and then she does become pregnant.