So I’m going to start this blog post off by crossing my
heart, hoping to die, and pinky swearing that I will not cheat on my Philosophy
midterm. But…what if I did?
More specifically, how would Mill feel about such an act?
Thinking about, it seems to me that Mill might condone cheating. Look at it
through the lens of the Greatest Happiness Principle. Studying for a midterm is
time-consuming, stressful, difficult at times, and keeps me away from my
precious sleep, none of which contributes to neither my lower nor higher
pleasures. So wouldn’t it make sense (from Mill’s perspective at least) if I
chose not to study for my exam?
The next step is obviously to take the actual exam. Now,
obviously the greatest total happiness would come from not studying and then
acing that exam, but I gotta face reality and admit that I’m generally not
smart enough to consistently pull that off. Therefore, if I didn’t study, I’d
probably fail – also not conducive to my happiness, or that of my professor
(assuming that he / she is takes pleasure in students’ success). So what do I
do then? Cheat.
Assuming that I could manage to cheat without getting caught
and successfully make a good grade on the exam, then wouldn’t that result in
the greatest amount of happiness for all parties involved? First off, I didn’t
have to go through the stressful and difficult act of actually studying and
preparing for my exam – which meant I could have watched Breaking Bad, gone to
an opera, or slept, all of which contribute more to my overall happiness.
Furthermore, if I cheated successfully, I would make a much better grade on the
exam than I would if I hadn’t studied, which would make both myself and
(presumably) my professor happy. So, no unhappiness from studying, but
happiness from the grade. It seems like cheating is the utilitarian thing to
do.
So what are your thoughts? Have I made an army of cheaters?
Do you agree? Or do you think that Mill would argue that achieving a good grade
from studying brings a since a sense of accomplishment that would trump these
other pleasures? Or does it all depend on how one defines what one’s “higher
pleasures” are?
I think that Mill's principle of Utilitarianism in the case of cheating depends completely upon on how one defines a "higher pleasure". You are correct in the idea that not studying and acing the exam would lead to reduced stressed and anxiety levels, however the guilt that you would feel after receiving a grade that you did not honestly earn would result in anxiety on a different spectrum. Mill defines higher pleasures as ones we enjoy even if it means enduring something that isn't pleasurable, even maybe painful, to achieve that higher pleasure. A true higher pleasure in this scenario would come from working really hard and acing the test based on your own abilities without any outside help. It is only this way that you can take pride in yourself and enjoy the fruits of your labor without any guilt.
ReplyDelete- Jessica Ealy
Leading up to the midterm exam and while taking the exam I also was thinking a lot about the ethical stance on cheating according to Mill. I studied really hard, probably harder than I did for other exams because philosophy doesn’t come easy for me, but honestly speaking, part of me hates take home exams because it’s so tempting to cheat. Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to sit in my bed under the covers with my tea next to me and a soft hum of music in the background when taking my test, but the temptation to cheat is definitely in the back of my mind. I definitely feel as if Mill would be against cheating because for him one can only attain its goal of greater happiness by cultivating the nobleness of individuals so that all benefit from honor (and cheating is far from noble). Also, in a way utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism because for Mill, the moral duty is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain; however, in order to speculate what will maximize pleasure and minimize pain, we must consider the consequence. In the example of cheating, ultimately cheating would bring me displeasure because I would constantly be feeling guilt for my actions and then when the grade would come, I wouldn’t feel pride in the good grade but rather a disappointment in myself. Although it is a pain to stay up late studying and cramming for a midterm, ultimately it is going to be the action that produces the most amount of pleasure, meaning it is the immoral to cheat according to Mill.
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