Criticism And Utilitarianism: The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights

1145 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Universal declaration of human rights conclusion

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is established on the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Each article is put into place to ensure human rights are protected for all people and nations. Therefore, the United Nations and States vowed to obey the rights of the people. The claims that are made in the articles go hand in hand with several ethical terms. Thus examples are found in the articles; Utilitarianism, The Categorical Imperative, Virtue Ethics, Social Contract Theory, Natural Law and Feminist Ethics. According to Jeremy Bentham, Utilitarianism is about morality, making the world as happy as possible. The greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people is the goal of utilitarianism. Therefore is it is not about pleasing God but about pleasuring your values and beliefs (Rachels 99). Jeremy stated, “We all feel pleasure and we all feel pain” (Rachels 83). For happiness to …show more content…

It is derived from the Greeks, which believed that “Everything in nature has a purpose” (Rachels and Rachels 55). Then later Aristotle believed to understand anything you have to ask four questions; What is it? What is made out of? How did it come to be? And What is it for? Aristotle agrees with the Greeks that everything has a purpose in this world. The law of nature includes the duty of beneficence which make humans morally obligated to care about others. Since the law of nature is not based of God’s commend it say what it right or wrong, it has laws of reason. This means that the right thing to do is based on the best argument (Rachels 57). The problem with this is that whether someone believes in God or not we are all raised on God’s ability to reason. This principle is perceived in article eighteen, which promotes the “freedom of thought, conscience, and religion”. The article allows us to consult the theory of nature law to determine what is right or

Show More
Related

  • Homelessness in America

    2035 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (n.d.). United Nations. Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

    Read More

  • On Utilitarianism

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Utilitarianism, J.S. Mill gives an account for the reasons one must abide by the principles of Utilitarianism. Also referred to as the Greatest-happiness Principle, this doctrine promotes the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people. More specifically, Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism, holding that the right act is that which yields the greatest net utility, or "the total amount of pleasure minus the total amount of pain", for all individuals affected by said act (Joyce, lecture notes from 03/30).

    Read More

  • Why the Federal Government Must Abolish the Death Penalty

    1270 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Amnesty International USA - Protect Human Rights. 19 May 2009 .

    Read More

  • Difference Between Utilitarianism And Care Ethics

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Utilitarianism is the creed which accepts as the foundations of morals utility of the greatest happiness principle holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” (Mil, 90). Utilitarianism ethics is based on the greatest good for the greatest number meaning that the moral agent does what he/she thinks will be

    Read More

  • Human Rights in the Age of Discovery

    601 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Rene Trujillo's book "Human Rights in the 'Age of Discovery,'" the introduction explains the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration was adopted in 1948 by the United Nations and was ratified by 48 nations. Eleanor Roosevelt was the chair of the commission that wrote it and represented the United States in the United Nations. Most national constitutions incorporate some of the Declaration's principles and human rights organizations think of the Declaration as a kind of constitution, stating rights and freedoms.

    Read More

  • Themes Of Individuality

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on December 10, 1948. Each of the 30 articles in this declaration defines rights humans need, from basic resources and education to freedom of thought and speech. Article 2 states, “Everyone

    Read More

  • Mill's Utilitarianism

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main principle of utilitarianism is the greatest happiness principle. It states that, "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure" (Mill, 1863, Ch. 2, p330). In other words, it results with the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people that are involved.

    Read More

  • Robert Nozick's Experiment, The Experience Machine and the Inclusion of Meta-Pleasure

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    Utilitarianism is a moral theory that seeks to define right and wrong actions based solely on the consequences they produce. By utilitarian standards, an act is determined to be right if and only if it produces the greatest total amount of happiness for everyone. Happiness (or utility) is defined as the amount of pleasure less the amount of pain (Mill, 172). In order to act in accordance with utilitarianism, the agent must not only impartially attend to the pleasure of everyone, but they must also do so universally, meaning that everyone in the world is factored into the morality of the action.

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty Debate

    1735 Words  | 4 Pages

    "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World. Web. 18 Oct. 2011

    Read More

  • Jeremy Bentham : Father of Utilitarianism

    1451 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jeremy Bentham is widely regarded as the father of utilitarianism. He was born in 1748 into a family of lawyers and was himself, training to join the profession. During this process however, he became disillusioned by the state British law was in and set out to reform the system into a perfect one based on the ‘Greatest Happiness Principle,’ ‘the idea that pleasurable consequences are what qualify an action as being morally good’. Bentham observed that we are all governed by pain and pleasure; we all naturally aim to seek pleasure and avoid pain. He then decided that the best moral principle for governing our lives is one which uses this, the ‘Greatest Happiness Principle.’ This is that the amount of overall happiness or unhappiness that is caused by an action should determine whether an action is right or wrong. He stated,

    Read More

  • Utilitarianism, Kant's Deontological Ethics, And Virtue Ethics

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory that was first theorized by Jeremy Bentham, who summed up the fundamental quality of utilitarianism as, “It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.” Bentham was not a religious person and did not want to involve

    Read More

  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights

    1354 Words  | 3 Pages

    On December 10th in 1948, the general assembly adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration, although not legally binding, created “a common standard of achievement of all people and all nations…to promote respect for those rights and freedoms” (Goodhart, 379). However, many cultures assert that the human rights policies outlined in the declaration undermine cultural beliefs and practices. This assertion makes the search for universal human rights very difficult to achieve. I would like to focus on articles 3, 14 and 25 to address how these articles could be modified to incorporate cultural differences, without completely undermining the search for human rights practices.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Utilitarianism And Kantian Ethics

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    Utilitarianism can be defined as: the right action is the one that produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. Utilitarians seem to believe that humans only have two desires, or motivations: happiness and pain. They want as much happiness as possible and the least amount of pain as any other action. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory, meaning that whether it is right, depends solely on its consequences.

    Read More

  • Critique Of Bentham's Quantitative Utilitarianism

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before the main discussion of the Bentham's utilitarianism gets underway, lets first establish what utilitarianism is. As stated in the introduction, utilitarianism is a teleological philosophy that is primarily concerned with the results of an action when determining the nature of that act. Utilitarianism operates primarily under the greater happiness principal, in other words, utilitarians believe that one should only act in such a way that the results of that act should produce the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest for the greatest number of people. It is due to this view that utilitarianism is often criticized for being too hedonistic because it places the moral value of an act only on how much that act effects happiness. The teleological nature of utilitarianism also can serve as a problem because it pays no attention to the intention an action and can make acts of an immoral nature justifiably right. I will use the example that a professor of mine used in which a man tries to snatch an old lady's purse and in his struggle to do so he pulls her out of the way of a speeding vehicle thus saving her life. This act, although it started with mischievous intent, ended with a life being saved and surely produced the greatest amount of happiness for the old lady. In the utilitarian eye this act is morally acceptab...

    Read More

  • Are Human Rights Universal?

    1599 Words  | 4 Pages

    A general definition of human rights are that they are rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled to, simply because there human. It is the idea that ‘all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.’ The thought that human rights are universal emerges from the philosophical view that human rights are linked to the conservation of human dignity- that respect for individual dignity is needed regardless of the circumstance, leading to the notion that human rights are universal. The earliest form of human rights can be traced back to European history- the French Declaration on the Rights of Man and of Citizen which says that men are born free and equal in rights.

    Read More

More about Criticism And Utilitarianism: The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights

Open Document