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Justice What's The Right Thing To Do Essay

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In the book “Justice: What’s the right thing to do?” the author, Michael J. Sandel, reveals six primary ethical approaches, which can be utilized to answer the fundamental question of the book, “What’s the right thing to do?” These six approaches consist of utilitarianism, libertarianism, Locke, Kant liberal egalitarian and Aristotle. Utilitarianism consists of the principle of utility, which expresses the idea that moral actions are composed of those, which deliver the greatest amount of joy or happiness to the most amount of people. While this principle of utility gives the illusion of being a flawless idea, its imperfections are at times evidently displayed since utilitarianism attempts to bring happiness to a majority, while also sacrificing …show more content…

However, his stance can be distinguished from that of a libertarian’s since libertarianism is a product of the belief that everyone owns his or her life, while Locke’s view simply establishes the idea that life should be cherished and not forsaken by anyone. Locke’s theory, like libertarianism, establishes that laws and government should be based on consent. However, Locke’s views differentiate from libertarianism since he believed that government and its decisions should be based off of majority’s approval. The main flaw regarding Locke’s views arise from these statements since laws and government cannot be derived from the general public’s consent, while also ignoring the views and approval of a …show more content…

In doing so, these individuals would only be capable of choosing two principles, basic liberties and equal opportunities. Rawls emphasizes how the removal of social disparities and biological advantages would lead to true equality and freedom among humanity. He also explains how effort can be affected by biological and social factors since behavior is shaped by nature and nature. The current economic system of the United States reflects this since it depreciates effort, while valuing efficiency. After having analyzed Rawls’ views and ideas I have concluded that out of the six approaches this would have to be the one I can mostly relate to since it truly emphasizes ideas of establishing true equality and freedom amongst

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1245 Words | 5 Pages

Locke believed that it is people’s inherent right to govern themselves. He “championed the social contract and govern­ment by consent”. (Steven) He even went so far to say that people did not need to be governed. All that government is is a framework by which people protect their natural rights, but it only needs to exist in practice.

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1755 Words | 8 Pages

This approach focuses on the maximum benefit of everyone, disregarding whether or not they were derived from lies and deception. This approach would be the most appropriate when assessing a solution to this problem. The process of Utilitarian also helps to explain the assessing of this solution. First the approach says identify the possible solutions, we then look at the benefits and harms of each possible outcome, and last we choose a course of action that provides the most benefit for the overall group. The two groups of Utilitarians also help to lay out this case.

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839 Words | 4 Pages

Locke believed that people were born with natural rights that included the right to life, liberty, and property. Locke argued that people formed governments to protect their natural rights, so the best kind of government was one with limited power and was accepted by all citizens. Locke said that a government has an obligation to the people it governs, therefore, the people have a right to revolt if the government fails at its obligations. Like many other Enlightenment philosophers, John Locke’s ideas reflected on the checks and balance system as well as the Declaration of Independence. For example, in the Declaration of Independence, it says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

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1790 Words | 8 Pages

This approach says that a society is in some sense is an agreement amount all those who make up the society. In the analogy Rawls shows his disagrements and gives solutions or what he things is a more just way of doing such things. Rawls starts off by saying “I believe that the contrast between the contract view and utilitarianism remains essentially the same in all these cases. There fore I shall compare justice as fairness with familiar variants of intuitionism, perfectionism, and utilitarianism in order to bring out the underlying difference in the simplest way.” Rawls strongly opposes utilitarianism.

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775 Words | 4 Pages

Rawls’ idea of justice as fairness, which he presented in his book, “A Theory of Justice,” emphasizes the importance of equal opportunities and equal distribution of wealth and resources in society. This idea resonates with me because, as someone who values fairness and equality, I believe that everyone should have the same chance to succeed and live a fulfilling life. Rawls’ work has taught me to be more aware of societal inequalities and to work towards creating a fairer and more just

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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

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1084 Words | 5 Pages

Locke’s definition of liberty depends on whether the person is in the state of nature, in which people are “without subordination or subjection” (Locke 101) or if they have formed into a commonwealth, or whenever “any number of men are so united into one society, as to quit every one his executive power of the law of nature, and resign it to the public” (Locke 137-38). In the Lockean state of nature, men have a “freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons” (Locke 101). This freedom is still limited by what Locke refers to as the law of nature, or that “no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions” (Locke 102). He also defines the liberty of the state of nature as “not to be under any will or legislative authority of man” (Locke 109). In his form of commonwealth, there is more limited freedom, in which liberty is to “be under no legislative power, but that established, by the consent of the commonwealth” (Locke 110).

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Sandel, Michael J. (2009). Justice: What’s the right thing to do? New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Introduction & Background Information In the book, Justice:

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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

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1312 Words | 6 Pages

It states that an action which is deemed right is one that has not merely some good consequences, but also the greatest amount of good consequences possible when the negative consequences are also given due considerations. According to the utilitarian principle, the righteousness of an action is solely judged on the basis of its consequences. Classical utilitarianism determines the balance of pleasure and pain for each individual affected by the action in question as well as the amount of utility for the whole

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431 Words | 2 Pages

Introduction In this essay, I will be comparing Deontology to Utilitarianism. I will attempt to substantiate why I am justified in arguing that Deontology is a superior moral theory than Utilitarianism. A Discussion of the Main Elements of Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a moral theory developed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1947 – 1832) and refined by fellow countryman John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873).

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1751 Words | 8 Pages

Locke's most important and influential political writings are contained in his Two Treatises on Government. The first treatise is concerned almost exclusively with refuting the argument that political authority was derived from religious authority. The second treatise contains Locke’s own constructive view of the aims and justification for civil government. According to Locke, the State of Nature, the natural condition of mankind, is a state of perfect and complete liberty to conduct one's life as one best sees fit, free from the interference of others. This does not mean, however, that it is a state of license: one is not free to do anything at all one pleases, or even anything that one judges to be in one’s interest.

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632 Words | 3 Pages

Introductory Paragraph (description of theory) John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) is a English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and known as the "Father of Classical Liberalism”. Locke got a scholarship to Oxford University where he spent 30 years at Oxford, studying, tutoring, and writing. He wrote influential political science and philosophy. Locke 's famous theory had to do with the Social Contract theory. The Social Contract covers the origin of government and how much authority a state should have over an individual.

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1228 Words | 5 Pages

As it has been shown, the utilitarian view has its strengths and is certainly logical in some cases, however, Kantian ethics offer a more stable set of moral

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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

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