Table of Contents

1 Introduction.- 1.1 Utilitarianism.- 1.2 Prospectus.- 1.3 Critical vs. intuitive.- 2 Morality and decision making.- 2.1 The argument for consequentialism, restated.- 3 The nature of goals.- 3.1 Types of goals.- 3.2 Sadistic goals.- 3.3 Erroneous subgoals.- 3.4 Goals and preferences.- 3.5 What goals?.- 3.6 Conclusion.- 4 Expected utility theory.- 4.1 Criticisms of expected-utility.- 4.2 The independence principle.- 4.3 Regret.- 4.4 Transitivity.- 4.5 Ambiguity.- 4.6 Summary.- 4.7 Appendix: Utility measurement.- 5 Decisions for others.- 5.1 Interpersonal comparison.- 6 Self-other conflict.- 6.1 Normative theories of social dilemmas.- 6.2 Weighted utilitarianism.- 6.3 The effect of time.- 6.4 Conclusion.- 7 Acts and omissions.- 7.1 The main argument.- 7.2 Why people make the distinction.- 7.3 Prescriptive implications.- 7.4 Conclusion.- 8 Utilitarian education.- 8.1 Implications for moral education.- 8.2 Potential advantages: Bad intuitions.- 8.3 The potential dangers of critical thinking.- 8.4 The content of moral education.- 8.5 The nature of virtue.- 8.6 The virtues of citizenship.- 8.7 Conclusion.- 9 Decision analysis and public policy.- 9.1 Issues in decision analysis.- 9.2 The value of life.- 9.3 Conclusion.- 10 Equity hi social policy and liability.- 10.1 Distribution.- 10.2 Liability: deterrence and compensation.- 10.3 Nonpecuniary damages.- 11 The risk analysis debate.- 11.1 Voluntary vs. involuntary.- 11.2 Natural vs. unnatural.- 11.3 Catastrophic vs. gradual.- 11.4 Ambiguous risks.- 11.5 Equity in risk distribution.- 11.6 Ex post vs. ex ante equity.- 12 Social decisions.- 12.1 The classification.- 12.2 An example.- 12.3 Rights and duties.- 12.4 Advantages and disadvantages.- 12.5 Virtues and vices.- 12.6 Conclusion.- References.