Which of the following best reflects Mill’s view on when self-sacrifice is morally justified?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Mill’s utilitarian principle judges actions by their tendency to produce happiness; praise goes to motives that aim at promoting general welfare. Relevant knowledge: Mill’s “greatest happiness” principle (utility) makes consequences central, but he also recognizes moral praise for benevolent intentions. In Utilitarianism he defends the view that a disposition deliberately to promote others’ happiness is morally commendable, even if particular acts sometimes fail.

Step-by-step reasoning:
1. Identify the norm: For Mill, rightness is tied to producing happiness; moral appraisal combines outcomes and the agent’s motive insofar as it aims at utility.
2. Apply to self-sacrifice: If a person sacrifices for another with the sincere intention of relieving suffering, that motive directly aligns with promoting happiness (the utilitarian end).
3. Consider consequences: If the sacrifice actually helps others, it clearly increases utility and is right. If it fails, Mill still regards the benevolent motive as praiseworthy because it manifests the disposition to promote the general good.
4. Contrast other motives: Self-sacrifice done for self-glorification, duty detached from utility, or mere aesthetic elevation does not track Mill’s central criterion as closely.

Why the correct answer is correct: Option (b) states self-sacrifice is admirable when done with sincere intent to relieve another’s suffering. That matches Mill’s emphasis on promoting happiness and his praise for benevolent intentions directed at others’ welfare. The motive matters because it shows commitment to the utilitarian end.

Why the other options are incorrect:
- (a) Blanket rejection contradicts Mill’s positive evaluation of benevolent motives.
- (c) “Moral elevation even if no clear benefit” overemphasizes aesthetic or sentimental value; Mill requires promotion (or sincere aim to promote) of happiness.
- (d) “Only when it leads to a greater good beyond the sacrifice itself” is too restrictive—Mill praises sincere benevolence even when outcomes don’t pan out.
- (e) Treating intrinsic worth as duty/virtue echoes Kantian duty ethics, not Mill’s utilitarian standard.

Conclusion: The correct answer is (b), consistent with Mill’s utilitarian praise for sincere, benevolent intention to relieve suffering.

Which of the following best reflects Mill’s view on when self-sacrifice is morally justified?单项选择题

类似问题

What role does Rousseau assign to pity in the absence of law?

According to Rousseau, the Savagery of Neoliberalism and Technology Principle holds that the further human life is absorbed into digital systems of commerce, the more its moral instincts for compassion grow through resistance to abstraction. Which one of his quotes best supports this principle?

Which of the following would Mill most likely reject as a valid explanation for why we care so strongly about justice?

Match the following quote to the moral concept it best illustrates in Nietzsche’s genealogy: “The noble type of man experiences itself as value-creating; it does not need approval...”

Which of the following best captures Mill’s account of the internal sanction that gives morality its binding authority?

Which of the following best reflects a condition Nietzsche associates with weakness that disguises itself as moral insight?

In the topic of Ethics, Utilitarianism are decisions made exclusively based on their outcomes and

Ethics refers to the study of the ______________ that we all have to make in our lives

更多留学生实用工具

智能学习助手

风格化写作助手

论文查重助手

文献引用助手

课堂转译助手

课堂笔记助手

Quiz搜索助手

学校历年真题

智能刷题助手

智能匹配练习

希望你的学习变得更简单