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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that A student is making the best decision by studying for an exam rather than going to a party, even though studying sacrifices short-term pleasure

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.Bentham's calculus assumes future pleasures can be reliably quantified and compared, but radical uncertainty about outcomes undermines cardinal utility comparisons.
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    • 2.The student cannot know whether exam performance will causally produce the assumed long-term pleasures, making the calculus speculative rather than action-guiding.
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    • 3.Rule utilitarianism (Mill) would evaluate the general practice of studying, not this instance, and that rule may produce worse aggregate outcomes than flexible social engagement.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Mill's qualitative distinction between higher and lower pleasures entails that the pleasure of genuine social flourishing may rank above rote academic performance.
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    • 2.Aristotelian eudaimonism, which influenced utilitarian critics like Bradley, holds that philia and communal participation are constitutive of the good, not merely instrumental to it.
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    • 3.If social bonds are intrinsically valuable rather than merely productive of future utility, sacrificing them cannot be straightforwardly offset by projected academic gains.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
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    • 1.Doing well in school leads to long-term pleasures that score higher in duration and magnitude than the short-term pleasure of attending a party
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    • 2.Studying has high fecundity — it leads to further pleasures beyond the immediate reward
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    • 3.On Bentham's calculus, the quantitatively superior outcome is the correct choice
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    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.