Part 4.1: Ethical Excavations (Utilitarianism)

Part 4: Utilitarianism - Learning Outcomes

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By the end of Part 4, you should be able to:

• Excavate existing utilitarian patterns in your personal reasoning

• Analyze origins and development of your consequence-focused thinking

• Navigate tensions between utilitarian and other reasoning approaches

• Apply archaeological analysis method to discover rather than learn framework concepts

• Integrate utilitarian insights into your ongoing conflict map through citations and addenda

Excavate Existing Utilitarian Patterns in Personal Reasoning

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Students will identify where consequence-based, outcome-focused, and greatest-good thinking already appears in their ethical decision-making.

Evidence of Learning:

• Recognizes existing focus on overall outcomes and well-being maximization

• Identifies personal "happiness calculator" or methods for comparing consequences

• Discovers unconscious utilitarian considerations in decision-making patterns

• Maps where outcome-based reasoning conflicts with other approaches

Analyze Origins and Development of Utilitarian Thinking

Students will trace how their consequence-focused reasoning patterns developed through personal experience and cultural influences.

Evidence of Learning:

• Connects utilitarian patterns to family stories, cultural background, or formative experiences

• Explains how focus on overall outcomes might have been shaped by personal history

• Identifies sources of their approach to measuring and comparing well-being

• Recognizes environmental or experiential factors that encouraged consequentialist thinking

Navigate Tensions Between Utilitarian and Other Reasoning Patterns

Students will explore conflicts between outcome-focused thinking and relationship-based, rule-based, or intuitive approaches in their reasoning.

Evidence of Learning:

• Identifies specific conflicts between calculating outcomes and maintaining relationships

• Explores tensions between gut moral intuitions and utilitarian calculations

• Recognizes where utilitarian logic conflicts with other heuristics or role obligations

• Analyzes situations where numbers-based thinking feels insufficient or problematic

Apply Archaeological Analysis Method to Philosophical Framework

Students will use AI-guided excavation to discover rather than learn about utilitarian concepts, treating themselves as the primary source.

Evidence of Learning:

• Maintains focus on personal reasoning patterns rather than theoretical knowledge

• Uses AI to probe for hidden utilitarian assumptions and calculations

• Engages in genuine discovery of existing patterns rather than confirmation of framework

• Demonstrates honest assessment of utilitarian presence (or absence) in their thinking

Integrate Utilitarian Analysis into Ongoing Conflict Map

Students will add utilitarian insights to their developing understanding of personal ethical complexity through citations and addendum creation.

Evidence of Learning:

• Creates utilitarian addendum that identifies specific patterns and tensions

• Adds citations to existing conflict map indicating utilitarian reasoning

• Updates understanding of ethical complexity based on utilitarian excavation

• Builds cumulative analysis that integrates multiple philosophical perspectives

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Clayn D. Lambert