Mills Utilitarianism Theory In Criminal Justice

1.When learning about utilitarianism, I thought of many examples and scenarios where this theory could be applied. Being a criminal justice major I learn about many scenarios where a persona acts in a way that results in the most amount of happiness for themselves, not in the way for an outcome that results in the greatest amount of happiness for the overall number of people. Mill defines utilitarianism as “An ethical theory that holds the right action is the one that results in the greatest net happiness for the greatest number of people for the greatest length of time (Mills 938)”. When learning about Mills’ utilitarianism theory, I related his idea to the minds of criminals in our world today. When a criminal commits a criminal act, they

While learning about Mills’ utilitarianism, an example that I believe would fit the definition of the utilitarianism theory and which could also be applied would be an example of death. If someone had the choice between killing two people to save the lives of say one thousand, the choice here would be to kill the two people. After killing two people to save the lives of the other thousand people, there would be more happiness for the thousand saved people, thus arguing the greatest amount of happiness for the longest duration among the chosen survivors. Mills’ also explains a theory of harm called the Harm principle. In the Harm Principle Mills’ explains it to be “ A direct interest, comprehending all that portion of a persons life and conduct which only affects himself, or if it also affects others, only with their free, voluntary, and undeceived consent and participation (Mills 882)”. When learning about this theory I though about many scenarios that could explain this idea in simpler

Considering that most hard drugs are considered to be illegal in most places; how and why do people continue to get and use them? For many decades’ people have opted to use drugs for many reasons, I believe mostly in the act of personal enjoyment or relaxation. When a person decides to commit the illegal act of using drugs, they are acting upon personal choice. As we have learned in early readings, as a person enjoys a drug, they are acting upon something that they themselves choose and also the personal repercussions that follow with drug use. As people opt to taking drugs they seem to only effect themselves in the process. You can apply the harm principle to this idea and say that the harm is only ones doing to them and no one else is affected by their choices in drug use. When a person does commit the crime of drug use, the consequences of taking the drug fall on themselves and does not affect anyone else, which explains the harm principle, of one causing harm to only themselves without the result of others harmed. As people use drugs there are definitely side effects of the use that can in turn hurt others around them. A person can affect families in the usage of drugs, and non-the less a random person could be affected also. When determining the legalization of drug use in our country there are many reasons that I believe support the legalization of. As explained in our textbook Trebach