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Ethical Ego Vs Utilitarianism

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What is different and the same between utilitarianism and ethical egoism? First, I will be summarizing and evaluating the two different theories. When completing this, I will then compare them. Next, my opinion will be given of which one I think is better. Finally, a case out of Morality Play will be given and talked about. First, I will summarize utilitarianism. According to James Rachels, “Utilitarianism can be summed up in three propositions: (a) The morality of an action depends on the consequences of the action. (b) An action’s consequences matter only insofar as they involve the greater or lesser happiness of individuals. (c) in the assessment of consequences, each individual’s happiness gets equal consideration.” To me this means maximizing pleasure. This means the state of feeling good or happy. Some examples would be reading a book, cooking, or getting a college education. In “Utilitarianism” by John Stuart Mill, it states, “By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure.” …show more content…

The first strength of utilitarianism is there are higher and lower pleasures inside of the theory. An example of a high pleasure would be family. Another strength would be you are going to get support from multiple people because they are going to be concerned with not just themselves but everyone. A weakness being pleasure isn’t the only thing in the world. There is also pain. The final weakness would be based on the consequences. Before you do something, you think about what your consequences will be. According to Professor Robert Nozick we are worried about missing out on

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Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong when looking at the outcomes. It believes that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number. Consequentialism is found in utilitarianism; consequentialism is largely thought about during war. When you fight for your life in war, you end up taking another person's life. While this may be good for your country, it is hurting a different country.

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Utilitarianism tells a person to choose the option that will be of the greater good/ happiness and last longer. For instance, in the medical field if pharmacist has ten patients that need a specific pill to survive. However, the pharmacist only has nine pills. The only thing the pharmacist knows about the patients is that one patients needs three pills to live and all the other only need one to like. In this type of situation, the utilitarian choice would be to give the nine patients one pill to live.

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Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that focuses on outcomes and consequences. When one considers the theory of utilitarianism, it must be understood that the pleasure is a fundamental moral good and the aim is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. So, when a human is going through the decision making process it is of the utmost importance to look forward at the consequences of the decision and determine if the decision will maximize pleasure and minimize pain. John Stuart Mill, a nineteenth century philosopher focused on the theory of utilitarianism or the Greatest Happiness Principle and claimed that the maximization of happiness for the greatest quantity of people is the ultimate goal. One issue that we face in modern day America that

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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

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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

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This is discussed by Shafer-Landau in The Fundamentals of Ethics; he says that ethical egoism “arbitrarily makes my interests all-important” (114). If a person is required to do whatever is necessary to increase their well-being, then they must only act in their interests. Ethical egoism allows individuals to think that there is no one more important or as important as them. It supports the belief that egoists should only care for themselves, ignoring everyone else’s needs and wants. An ethical egoist will only do the things that are pleasurable for them and that increase their welfare.

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. Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is an ethical framework that leads us to act taking in consideration what is useful, beneficial and make the majority of people happy. It takes in account the consequences of our behavior and not the act or the means by itself. There are two types of Utilitarianism: The Rule-utilitarians and the Act-utilitarian. The Rule-utilitarians stablish that every person should follow rules that have been implemented for the good and happiness of the society.

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It is clear how ethical egoism has no perfect properties and how utilitarianism simply avoids the problems ethical egotism falls into. Now let’s shed some light onto the advantages of utilitarianism that ethical egoism lacks in. Utilitarianism is a theory which objectifies moral principles. It makes utility a quantified value. Utility is something that is intrinsically valuable and that it can be measured and compared from one result to another.

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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

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A man by the name of John Stuart Mill seems to be able to give us some answers to these questions. Mill starts our inquiring journey with defining what utilitarianism stands for. In short he states that it is the construction of utility, which claims that the actions that stimulate happiness in is morally fit and vice versa to be unfit. Happiness is something that we want for

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Utilitarianism is an ethical doctrine explicitly formulated in the late eighteenth century and since then has had many supporters, particularly in the Anglo world. As its name suggests, its substance is to define the correction of any action by its utility, ie, for the results or consequences resulting from it. Hence this doctrine is also known by the name of consequentialism.

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Commonly, ethical systems are categorized into two major systems. The deontological approaches or normative ethical position which judges an action based on the adherence of the action to certain rules and the teleological approaches which judges primarily based on the consequences of an action (Hare, 1964). The Utilitarianism is assigned to the teleological approaches, as it does not evaluate an action by itself but by it’s

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The utilitarianism is common approach to make ethical decisions. The main point of this approach is that you have to make that decision which comes with the most utility. The utility in this approach can be described as „The good”, and the opposite of this is „the bad”. This means that in Computer Science you have to produce a computer programme or a hardware, which produces the largest amount of good , and during the producing phase, it makes the least amount of bad, for all who are affected: customers, employees, and even the enviroment. With the utilitarian viewpoint people can make right, and ethical decisions, for instance if you produce a programme which can make life easier for millions of people, you should not sell it for extremly

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Utilitarianism is a very controversial theory. Many people disagree with this idea because it disrupts our personal relationships, it is too demanding, it promotes that the consequences are the only thing that matters, and shows that pleasures are the only things that are important. Classical Utilitarianism is based on three points; that morality of actions are only bases on consequences, the consequences only matter if it creates more or less happiness, and everyone gets equal considerations when it comes to happiness. The classical Utilitarianism was made and defended by three philosophers from 19th century England; John Mill, Jeremy Bentham, and Henry Sidgwick. These people help this theory to be highly influential in the modern era.

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Psychological egoism asserts that people always act selfishly and self-centered. Ethical egoism asserts that people should always act in his or her own self interest. Psychological egoism defines how we are as human beings. It is the prime idea that selfless acts do not exist. It is the belief that all people are selfish.

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