ipl-logo

Objection To Act Utilitarianism

1217 Words5 Pages

Utilitarianism is the moral theory that the action that people should take it the one that provides the greatest utility. In this paper I intend to argue that utilitarianism is generally untenable because act and rule utilitarianism both have objections that prove they cannot fully provide the sure answer on how to make moral decisions and what will be the ultimate outcome. I intend to do this by defining the argument for act and rule utilitarianism, giving an example, presenting the objections to act and rule utilitarianism and proving that utilitarianism is untenable.
Both act and rule utilitarianism attempt to argue that what is right or wrong can be proven by what morally increases the well being of people. Act utilitarianism argues that …show more content…

A main objection to act utilitarianism is that it can be impossible to determine the scope, intensity, and/or the duration of the action. People cannot possibly predict every single outcome that will come from an action and the affect it will have for sure. Another objection to act utilitarianism is that it makes people rely to heavily on morals when making their decision. This turns even the simplest decision into some complicated process that is not needed. For example, people do not need to look at the intensity when they are deciding what chips to buy at the grocery store, they can simply just choose the one they like best. Rule utilitarianism attempts to fix the flaws of act utilitarianism by being stricter on how we should make our decisions. However, rule utilitarianism has the dilemma that sometimes rules can come into conflict with one another. Suppose someone told you a secret and you promised not to tell anyone, but you later find out that secret will harm someone else. Rule utilitarianism holds that people should keep their promises, but also that they should work to not harm anyone. This exposes the main dilemma to rule utilitarianism, and if the rule utilitarian were to say that depending on the situation some rules can be broken, then that just leads right back to act utilitarianism and how it depends on each situation. Neither act or rule utilitarianism is broad enough to fit every moral decision into their theory. Consequently, utilitarianism in general is

Show More
Related
1237 Words | 5 Pages

Under the moral theory of act utilitarianism, I will argue that the elements that define it as a moral theory, do not always hold up as a strong theory in its totality when we critically analyse it. I will also point out a few hypothetical situations and possible consequences when implementation of act utilitarianism is followed through. The consequences will be proven to have the potential to undo the utility of happiness for our loved family members, in order to care for strangers we do not have a connection with, which in my opinion is highly immoral. According to lecture notes ( Weijers & Munn 2016)

Read More
1565 Words | 7 Pages

Bernard Williams’ essay, A Critique of Utilitarianism, launches a rather scathing criticism of J. J. C. Smart’s, An Outline of a System of Utilitarian ethics. Even though Williams claims his essay is not a direct response to Smart’s paper, the manner in which he constantly refers to Smart’s work indicates that Smart’s version of Utilitarianism, referred to as act-Utilitarianism, is the main focus of Williams’ critique. Smart illustrates the distinction between act-Utilitarianism and rule-Utilitarianism early on in his work. He says that act-Utilitarianism is the idea that the rightness of an action depends on the total goodness of an action’s consequences.

Read More
152 Words | 1 Pages

First and foremost, albeit the validity whether the case study is based on or correlating with a real world occurrence is unconfirmed, the assumption has to be made that in the world of the case study good and equally bad consequences occur attributed to the decisions made by the stakeholders. Consequently, by analyzing the behaviors of the stakeholders in the case study the logistically apt theory to apply is Act Utilitarianism. First thing to recognize, is that the composition of the Act Utilitarianism theory is derived from Consequential and Utilitarian theories. The former is based on the behaviors or actions of people, the latter emphasizes the need to produce the greatest possible good for the greatest amount of people. With this in mind,

Read More
543 Words | 3 Pages

For rule utilitarianism, it tells us to follow a set of rules that maximizes utility such as “keep your promise, otherwise you will get hurt”. The rules permit us to account for obligations to specific people. If I apply rule utilitarianism to the dilemma facing George, he will get a different result from act utilitarianism. First, if George accepts a rule that conditions that parents have the responsibility to take care of their children, George saves his family will not be violated of his duties as a

Read More
910 Words | 4 Pages

As a line of moral reasoning, utilitarianism appears in many instances to enter questionable territory with regard to its imperatives about acts that a deontologist might designate as inherently immoral. While it is worth noting that in many cases this theory works well, the fact that the cardinal, ideological pillar behind it, The Greatest Happiness Principle, allows for the commission of seemingly immoral acts in certain cases, raises immediate and pressing objections among many people. These morally controversial decisions can range in severity from taking away a child’s ice cream cone to the murderous quandary that was introduced in Williams’ paper; utilitarianism states that if there are benefits at stake, these situations are one and the same: no matter how drastic the measure, the action that results in the most happiness for the most people is the morally right one. This line of thought brings about the concept of a negative duty that results from the fulfillment of some positive duties in such situations; for example, if one were to

Read More
1122 Words | 5 Pages

5. The two similarities between act utilitarian and rule utilitarian is that they both want good and lest harm for the greatest number of people. The differences is Act utilitarian wants the most good or least harm for the greatest number of people directly affected by the decision. That the act will result in in the best or least harmful consequences for the specific act.

Read More
1309 Words | 6 Pages

Utilitarianism is one of the most common approaches for dilemmas. The goal of Utilitarianism is to maximize the overall good. This is also the approach the Omelans take in the story. In the city of Omelas, the injustice of keeping one person confined coincides with justifying those who choose to stay in the city. Those who stay in Omelas are morally justified, because although they realize the suffering of a child is wrong, they take the utilitarian approach and act according to what would benefit the vast majority.

Read More
853 Words | 4 Pages

In this paper, I will define what pure utilitarianism is, as presented in Jeremy Bentham’s “Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation” and argue that there is a problem with utilitarianism. I will provide a counterexample to Bentham’s utilitarianism to highlight the flaws with Bentham’s reasoning. I will present an alternative to utilitarianism that avoids the counterexample by slightly revising aggregation. Lastly, I will claim that my revised alternative is still flawed and another counterexample can still be provided.

Read More
895 Words | 4 Pages

Utilitarian theory is a choice between two acts that can maximize utility for the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people (Mossier, 2013). Utilitarian takes the right proportion of utilities to promote happiness and prevent pain (Mossier, 2013). People are not happy working in an environment where people cannot read or write because it sometimes requires more work. Utilities are the expressed quality of happiness or satisfaction one gets from something (Mossier, 2013). Happiness comes in many levels of preference (Mossier, 2013).

Read More
1438 Words | 6 Pages

One of the major dilemmas in the philosophical community surrounds which moral theory should determine whether an action is right or wrong. Philosophers have sought a solution to the problem since it involves important aspects of daily life, namely how to judge the moral worth and acceptability of actions. Different utilitarian theories have been proposed, but a criticism regarding the way they address promises and justice poses a problem. This criticism must be analyzed through act and rule utilitarian perspectives to determine whether either form of utilitarianism can be a plausible theory of morality. In this paper, I will examine the theory of utilitarianism.

Read More
249 Words | 1 Pages

According to Playford, Roberts and Playford (2015), Utilitarianism is an ethical ideology where the right and wrong are based on the premise that aims at maximizing the overall well-being of an individual in the society. In fact, it is commonly associated with the common phrase “the greatest good for the greatest number of people” (Playford, Roberts and Playford, 2015). It requires that people should behave in the best possible manner in order to achieve the greatest well-being, as well as resulting in happiness of the majority of the members of society. As such, the intensity of happiness that forms the thresh hold of Utilitarian ethical ideology is concerning what is right and wrong. Utilitarian ethics does not only emphasize on individual

Read More
355 Words | 2 Pages

Utilitarianism is a principle that I often find business makers utilizing. This approach is determined by the consequences of an act; basically if the cost benefits a majority of people. This principle seems to be one of the most popular approaches to ethical decision-making, however, it is not always the best option. An example of this approach is when an employer has to terminate an employee because they have exhausted their PTO and Personal Leave, do not qualify for FMLA, however required to be on payroll for 2 more months to qualify for long-term disability and FMLA. This was a situation that recently happened at my employment place.

Read More
1996 Words | 8 Pages

What makes right actions right? There are many theories out there, exploring what moral principle we should live by. For a while, the idea was that our one principle of moral rightness must be two things: absolute, in that the moral status it attributes to an action is conclusive, un-revisable; and fundamental, in that its justification does not depend on any more general or more basic moral principle. But in David Ross’s revolutionary new view, Ethical Pluralism, he contends that there are at least two, and likely more, principles of rightness by which we should live our lives. One might think that this is absurd, that having multiple moral principles could surely never work, as they would often conflict with each other and create frequent

Read More
1685 Words | 7 Pages

Utilitarianism is a teleological ethical theory based on the idea that an action is moral if it causes the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. The theory is concerned with predicted consequences or outcomes of a situation rather than focusing on what is done to get to the outcome. There are many forms of utilitarianism, having been introduced by Jeremy Bentham (act utilitarianism), and later being updated by scholars such as J.S. Mill (rule utilitarianism) and Peter Singer (preference utilitarianism). When referring to issues of business ethics, utilitarianism can allow companies to decide what to do in a given situation based on a simple calculation. Many people would agree that this idea of promoting goodness

Read More
189 Words | 1 Pages

Utilitarianism is the theory that "The act we should choose is that which produces the best results for the greatest number affected by That choice" (Mosser, 2013). The utilitarian theory is not consistent, but rather it is viewed as "right" since it creates the best used for the quantity of individuals will's identity influenced by the activity or decision. The utilitarian standard was a much-needed refresher in Victorian England l, where many people were looking for a nonreligious, clear, free way to deal with moral quality. It was left to succeed hundreds of years to react fundamentally to utilitarianism. One is the issues with utilitarianism is that it is not conceivable or simple to anticipate the outcomes of your activities.

Read More

More about Objection To Act Utilitarianism

Related Topics

Open Document