What Is Utilitarianism Good

Utilitarianism

What Is good? What is bad? Utilitarianism is the belief that we must set out to achieve the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. It tells us how we must make decisions, and makes us think about how those choices will affect everyone in a group. Utilitarianism may sound appealing in theory, but is ultimately unreasonable and can harm the way individual human beings decide to live their lives. When it comes down to making decisions for one versus decisions for all, human emotion will always be the stronger factor and may hinder utilizing the greater good. Utilitarianism asks individuals to think about the entirety of the group, rather than just themselves. Jeremy Bentham in “An Introduction to the Principles of

In simple terms, utility sounds amazing. We would live happy lives, everything would be perfect, there is no suffering, and we are all equal. This idea is a fantasy, and is virtually a black and white picture. Suffering is something we must all experience in life. Pain is a part of our daily life, and to attempt to cut it out for everyone can affect the way people feel happiness. How can we know what happiness truly feels like, if are always carefully making sure not to make the “wrong” choice that might cause displeasure? Life is messy, and cannot be lived out by attempting to always make the best choices for every single person. Individuals may believe that this is a morally right idea, but when it comes down to making a decision, their human emotion will override it and they will think for themselves rather than everyone

Every individual makes life choices to fulfil their own level of happiness, but in the utilitarian world every choice must be made while thinking about what will create the greatest amount of pleasure, for the greatest amount of people. This idea stops us from solely thinking about ourselves, and the lives we wish to live out. Every choice we make must be decided carefully, thinking about how much suffering will come out of it, and how this will affect the people involved or around us. For example, individuals who decide their life’s passion is thrill seeking understand they risk their lives everyday. A utilitarian would look at that scenario and decide that while the individual is experiencing an immense amount of pleasure, the friends and family are most likely suffering from his pleasures due to fear. The mindset of utility allows the individual to think about others happiness, rather than just his own. Thinking about other people involved in a situation is important, but ultimately we must choose how to live for ourselves without others always in mind. The way we wish to live is affected by this theory, and can harm one’s own pleasure. We only have one life, so we must think for ourselves and decide what we want out of it. If thrill seeking is what one enjoys, then that is the life they should attempt to live. Life is about taking chances, and making choices that are not always the best ones for the entire group. Suffering is