Russ Shafer-Landau Is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

question 9

True/False

Russ Shafer-Landau is professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of several books including The Fundamentals of Ethics, fourth edition (2017) and The Ethical Life, fourth edition (2017). He is also the editor of Oxford Studies in Metaethics. In this reading he reviews some common criticisms of utilitarianism and argues that although some of them are less than decisive, others pose serious problems for the theory. Utilitarianism's most crippling shortcomings are its insistence that there is no intrinsic wrongness (or rightness) and its requirement that we must maximize well-being even if justice is thwarted.
-In utilitarianism, the moral worth of an action depends on one's motives.

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Definitions:

Participant Observation

A qualitative research method in which the researcher immerses themselves in the environment they are studying, participating in the activities while observing the setting and individuals within it.

Validation

The process of confirming or verifying something as true, correct, or compliant with standards.

Surveying

The science of measuring land to determine its boundaries, area, and the physical features it encompasses.

Premature Closure

The tendency to make a decision or come to a conclusion before acquiring all relevant information.