ipl-logo

Comparison Of Utilitarianism And The Greatest Happiness Principle

629 Words3 Pages

Value and Criterion

Due to morality being referenced in the resolution, it is the core value that should be upheld in this debate. Morality is simply defined as “conforming to the rules of right conduct.” (1) The central query of the resolution is whether killing one innocent person to save more than one can be conforming to the rules of right conduct. The mechanism by which we can weigh morality, that is to say how we can determine what is morally permissible, is the greatest happiness principle; this is also known as Utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism and The Greatest Happiness Principle

Utilitarianism is grounded in the reality that all desires we have boil down to pleasure, and freedom from pain. All other things we desire, are extensions of these base desires. As John Stuart Mill states in his book entitled "Utilitarianism;" "The only proof capable of being given that an object is visible, is that people actually see it. The only proof that a sound is audible, is that people hear it... In like manner, I apprehend, the sole evidence it is possible to produce that anything is desirable, is that people do actually desire it." (2) This demonstrates that desires exists and that the ultimate desire is happiness. …show more content…

(The wrong thing to do is anything else.)”(4) The determining factor is not personal preference or belief, rather, it is

Show More
Related
599 Words | 3 Pages

John Stuart Mill, one of the most influential philosopher of the nineteenth century, created a principle that states “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”. This is known as the Greatest Happiness Principle which focuses on what a man ought to do to promote happiness and prevention of unhappiness. When it comes to consequences in utilitarianism, this is what categorizes an action under “right” or “wrong”. Mill’s definition of happiness is based on the amount of pain and pleasure present in the consequence of the action. Happiness is the intended pleasure and absence of pain whereas unhappiness is pain and the deprivation of

Read More
1339 Words | 6 Pages

Although these principles are useful when determining whether it would be morally correct to intervene in a situation, these principles may still conflict with a person’s views of what actions are morally correct or not. The Principle of Utility The Principle of Utility, or

Read More
1079 Words | 5 Pages

The first principle of Utilitarianism is Utility. In John Stuart Mill’s text discussing his theory on Utilitarianism, he defines Utility as pleasure itself. “Every writer, from Epicurus to Bentham, who maintained the theory of utility, meant by it, not something to be contradistinguished from pleasure, but pleasure itself, together with the exemption from pain” (John Stuart Mill, 997). Another name for the theory of Utility is the Greatest Happiness Principle, which

Read More
1217 Words | 5 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

Read More
611 Words | 3 Pages

Utilitarianism is one of the best-known theory under the consequentialism, and its idea is the Greatest Happiness Principle(GHP). According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Utilitarian believe that the purpose of morality is to

Read More
1550 Words | 7 Pages

Utilitarianism holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong in proportion that they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Happiness is defined by pleasure and the absence of pain, and unhappiness is defined by pain and the lack of pleasure (Mill, 5). Pleasure and the lack of unhappiness are the only two aspects that are desirable as ends and inherently good. A significance in Mill’s definition of utilitarianism is what it is not. It is not psychologically measurable on a same scale but has different qualities and that those with more experience can determine what pleasures are higher than others.

Read More
1092 Words | 5 Pages

This is supposed to allow us to determine which action has the most benefits or lower total costs and is therefore moral. On the other hand, under the rule utilitarianism, we look at individual acts to see whether they produce more pleasure than the alternatives. If the actions produce more pleasure or have lower costs, then they are the moral types of actions. Rule utilitarianism’s basic strategy is to limit utilitarian analysis to the evaluation of moral rules. Theorists came up with the rule utilitarianism as a response to different concerns critics had about utilitarianism.

Read More
204 Words | 1 Pages

Utilitarianism, according to John Stuart Mill, is a superior ethical theory – at least in part – because it provides an ultimate end by which any action can be judged on the bases of how well the consequences of said action meet this end. Mill seems to be somewhat baffled by the lack of progress made in the area of moral theory over the last 2,000 years. He finds that this problem stems form the lack of a single stated moral obligation. He states that “there ought either to be some one fundamental principle or law at the root of all morality, or … there should be a determinate order of precedence among them” (pg.3). Mill seems to think that “the greatest happiness principle”, which is at the root of utilitarianism, sufficiently provides this

Read More
668 Words | 3 Pages

Mill defines Utilitarianism in chapter two as a theory based on the principle that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse

Read More
1218 Words | 5 Pages

The main principle of utilitarianism is happiness. People who follow this theory strive to fulfill the “ultimate good”. The “ultimate good” is defined as ultimate pleasure with out any pain. It is said that the pleasure can be of any quantity and any quality, but pleasures that are weighted more important are put at a higher level than others that are below it. This ethical theory also states that if society would fully embrace utilitarianism then people would naturally realize their moral standing in the

Read More
331 Words | 2 Pages

According to Mill, the sole proof that the general happiness is desirable is that people actually desire happiness, in which I find this point a strong one. The fact that humans desire happiness is the only proof that utilitarianism can provide because proof belongs in the domains of science. However, humans desire happiness and the happiness of others, and this is the only and strong proof that can be shown. “The only proof that a sound is audible is that people hear it…

Read More
384 Words | 2 Pages

All over the globe, vulnerable ecosystems are in a fight against invasive species. These invaders threaten global biodiversity and negatively impact ecological systems. They tend to tip the natural balance and wreak havoc on native species, disrupting the vital interactions of endemic flora and fauna and putting human health and economies at risk. Island ecosystems are particularly vulnerable; as they are often hotspots of biodiversity found nowhere else on the planet. Removing these invaders as a solution to this has, time and time again, been proven a costly and challenging task.

Read More
1564 Words | 7 Pages

John Stuart Mill, at the very beginning of chapter 2 entitled “what is utilitarianism”. starts off by explaining to the readers what utility is, Utility is defined as pleasure itself, and the absence of pain. This leads us to another name for utility which is the greatest happiness principle. Mill claims that “actions are right in proportions as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” “By Happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain, by happiness, pain and the privation of pleasure”.

Read More
1711 Words | 7 Pages

Suppose a conductor is driving his train and the breaks are defect. The rails lead directly into a cluster of five people who would all die if the train will go this direction. However, the conductor can change onto another track where only one person is standing hence only one person would die. How should the conductor react (Hare, 1964)? Is it possible to condense the problem to a rather simple maximization problem in example that the action is taken, which would kill the least people?

Read More
1659 Words | 7 Pages

The aim of the morality is to make the world a better region. Morality is about creating good consequence, not having good target. We should do whatever will bring the most advantage all of humanity. The aim of morality is to tell other people’s works in such a way as to create a better world. Utilitarianism is on consequences, not target.

Read More

More about Comparison Of Utilitarianism And The Greatest Happiness Principle

Related Topics

Open Document