Analysis Of The Principle Of Utility

The Dilemma that I’ve chosen is infidelity. The contributor says that her best friend was having an affair with her business partner and her husband found out. After the discovery, the friend and her husband agreed to work on their marriage. The friend also told the contributor that she had multiple sexual partners and continues to see the man she was caught with while she is still married to her husband. Her friend and her husband have been together for about ten years.

They don’t have any children. The friend is seeking help for addiction but tells the contributor that she doesn’t want to get a divorce because she’s never been on her own and thinks she may wake up one day and want to be married to her husband. The contributor wants to know

It’s more about helping the most people as opposed to just helping yourself, or in this case the contributor’s friend. This action can be proven to be the morally correct action by using the Principle of Utility.

The Principle of Utility basically states that the morally correct act is the act that produces the most happiness for all parties involved. No one person’s happiness is counted as more important than any other person involved. By applying hedonic calculus, a simple way to quantify happiness and handle the necessary calculations, we can determine if telling the husband produces the highest amount of good. First, we have to figure out how many people are involved. We could try to count all the men that the friend has had extramarital affairs with but there is no exact number for that. The article only sys more than ten men. Instead we will focus on the directly affected main characters. That’s the contributor, her husband, her friend and her

Calvin Mckenzie PHI 240 Introduction to Ethics 0002FA friend’s husband. Considering such factors as fecundity (how likely the pleasure or pain is to be followed by more pleasure or pain), propinquity (how soon the pleasure or pain will

While it is possible that the husband would feel better living in denial about his wife, it is just as likely he would feel the distance between them cause discomfort and unhappiness that would last however long they stay together or he discovers the truth. The contributor’s husband is mostly indifferent but would likely feel some unhappiness at seeing his wife torn apart inside about her decision.

Telling the husband would create intense unhappiness for most parties, the contributor would likely lose a friend and the friend would likely lose a husband. However, the unhappiness would likely pass and everyone would be able to live without secrets. The husband would probably grieve for a few months but would later have the freedom to find someone he loves that loves him back. The friend would be unhappy about losing her plan B but would be free to continue her “activities” without worrying about being caught by her husband. The contributor’s husband would again be mostly indifferent but wouldn’t have a wife with a guilty conscience.

The contributor would likely be sad about losing a friend. Whether or not that friend is a good one or not is another question. If they are good friends, maybe they can be friends after a