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Discussing utilitarianism
Utilitarianism for and against
Refletion on utilitarianism
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Discussing utilitarianism
Utilitarianism for and against
Refletion on utilitarianism
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
Utilitarianism is an ethical view that favors actions producing the “greatest good.” The use of utilitarian action is displayed in the case of Joe the janitor, when the doctor faces the problem of saving one hundred lives at the price of one. By killing a single janitor, the doctor would save a large number of people..
I think utilitarianism basically means that doing what is right should be placed above all else. In Barnard Madoff case he stood against everything utilitarianism stood for. An example would running an illegal ponzi scheme he was not thinking about how the people he was taking money from were feeling he wanted it all for himself no matter how many people he had to step on to get it. According to Heather Salazar article Bernie Madoff: Greatest Ponzi Scheme in U.S. History she said Madoff was not interested in doing the right thing at all and because of this he let a lot of people down and caused a lot of unhappiness because of it (Salazar). If Bernard Madoff were to do the right thing he would not be in jail right now and if he couldn 't make the same amount of money was making illegally he would still be making a decent amount of it and it would have been clean instead of taken unwillingly from
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
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.”
The concept of Utilitarianism is simple to describe, yet difficult to conclude. All decisions involving Utilitarianism, are situational and depend on what option will bring forth the greatest amount of end-all happiness. As claimed in The Right Thing to Do, “If one of the two is, by those who are competently acquainted with both, placed so far above the other that they prefer it, even though knowing it to be attended with a greater amount of discontent…we are justified in ascribing to the preferred enjoyment a superiority in quality, so far outweighing quantity as to render it, in comparison, of small account” (Rachels, 2015).
Utilitarianism’s advantage is its universality and impartiality (Cave, 2015). As Shaw (2006) writes, utilitarianism considers everyone’s happiness of equal value; furthermore, by its additive nature, one’s happiness can be added to another’s and thus be quantifiable. This allows the weighing-in of right and wrong. On the face of it, weighing up the pros and cons of a situation for all concerned both presently and into the future appears to be a reasonable method of ethical analysis. In addition, encourages the utilitarian to practice and employ logic.
The major concept that utilitarianism represents is that the larger the group of people happy there is a greater possibility that the action or act committed is morally correct. Since utilitarianism is founded upon the principle that an action is morally right if it produces a greater quantity of good or happiness than any other possible action. Also that even though it is not prominent in today’s society utilitarianism does play a big role we see it in our justice system along with how our politics are run and how officials in high positions are elected. And not even that when we are making big decisions we take into account the thought and opinions of other
Utilitarianism is an ethical system relatively easy to apply. To determine if an action is moral one must simply calculate the good and bad consequences that will result from a specific action. If the good overcomes the bad, then the action is moral. In utilitarianism avoids
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
Utilitarianism gives too much opportunity for negative things to be done with people saying what they were doing caused them greater happiness rather than the alternative. Following the Utilitarianism gives people the thought they can do anything as long as pleasure is greater than displeasure. Happiness is the key for this ethical principle. For example, stealing something such as a prescription drug to save a life.
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
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.
A Utilitarian would argue that you should kill the innocent villager because even though you’re killing him you are saving five others who are innocent. In the end, it is better to save five people and kill one than to get five people killed. On the contrary, a deontologist would argue that it is wrong to kill anyone, and that killing one person who is innocent is equally as bad as letting the others get killed. This point of view would allow the killing to be done by the Nazi’s and not someone else, so that person would not have to worry about their morals being affected. In this case I would agree with the Utilitarian’s stance because everyone who has the potential of being killed in this scenario is innocent and it is better to save the
Utilitarianism is a morally demanding position for two reasons, First reason is it theory asks us to do the most to maximize utility not to do the minimum and second reason is to set aside