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Discuss Utilitarianism
Strengths and weaknesses of consequentialism
Discuss Utilitarianism
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Utilitarianism tries to ensure happiness for the general majority, but utilitarianism is not soundly applicable in all situations. It tries to judge the happiest outcome of all situations, but is flawed in its basic reasoning. It is nearly impossible to judge the benefit of one decision over another in all situations. Here we see the trolley problem. A trolley or a train has gotten loose and is hurtling down the track. Ahead there are five people on the track. When the utilitarian in the problem looks over there is another track with only one person on it. The utilitarian is in the trolley house with the option of switching the tracks to hit one person as opposed to five. With this simple illustration, the utilitarian would switch the lever. The philosophy behind switching the lever is simple to the utilitarian. He switches the lever and causes the train only kill the one man because he is only one man, and surely less people will be affected by his death than by the five people’s deaths. But in truth he does not know that. That one man could be the CEO of a large …show more content…
If there was someone stealing crops in a town and the people get together and they’re about to riot, that riot could cause a lot of deaths. But say the people say we think we know who did it, yet you know that that particular person didn’t do it, but the people won’t listen, you’re faced with the option of killing an innocent person, or letting the riot get so bad that many more than just one life is at stake. A utilitarian would say that it is okay to kill the innocent person in order to the people from killing more in their riot. Yet this ignores the justice system. The sheriff here making this decision knows who did it and from justice’s point of view, they should say no to the crowd, prosecute the proper person, and if people are killed in the ensuing riot punish the people responsible. To justice killing that innocent human is
When applying utilitarianism, one must choose the action that produces the most amount of good to society, which in this case, Mill would not be in favor of the app Haystack. By discontinuing this app, the urban community as a whole would benefit since there are inequalities among the socioeconomic status’ of the people living in the densely populated cities. While some drivers are willing to pay for a spot each day, such as the upper or upper-middle class, others such as the lower or lower-middle classes might not be able to. Utilitarianism is concerned about the happiness of everyone. In regards to the concept of paying for parking spots, the poor and even the lower-middle will not be happy spending money each day for something that is traditionally
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).
rule utilitarianism also conflicts with justice and morality. Utility is a guide to choosing rules, not action. You must measure the consequences of an action as if they were a rule repeated many times in the same situation. Then choose which of those rules promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Say, for example if everyone were to lie such that it became a rule it should be acceptable as long as it results in greater utility. This can also be applied to the rape in war example; if it was done enough times then it is okay as long as the war ends and future pain are spared. Again this response requires that people accept such things like, raping women and murdering innocent people for the sake of winning a battle, as right in
In utilitarianism the common goal is to create the most happiness for the most amount of people. Mills definition 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” (540) If this principle is the case then as a utilitarian your actions of good should promote the most happiness. This way of thinking can really produce some wrong answers and actions to moral questions. For example, say you and your family are starving and in need of food. The only possible way to get food would be to steal it. In general society finds it morally wrong to steal under any circumstances. But as utilitarian you have to ask, would my actions of stealing food promote the most happiness for the most people. You need to take into account the people you are making happy and the people you are hurting. On one hand, you would be promoting happiness for you and your and entire family, and on the other hand, you would be hurting the storeowner by stealing some of his revenue. Utilitarian ideas tell you that you should steal the food because your actions are promoting happiness and the absence of pain for the least amount of people. There are other examples I found when doing some research like doctors going against morals to save more sick people by letting one healthy person die
According to (Moore & Parker, 2009, p. 441) Utilitarianism is the view that says “if an act will produce more happiness than will alternatives, it is the right thing to do, and if it will produce less happiness, it would be wrong to do it in place of an alternative that would produce more happiness”.
Throughout human history, the way in which we define what is right and wrong has gone through many different transformations. The way we treat our fellow human beings has been altered by war, propaganda, racism and cultural differences. The division of land and power in the middle ages, the crusades, women’s suffrage and slavery are all derived from the ethics of particular cultures and perspectives. By looking at the ethics of previous eras and cultures, I hope to develop a particular ethical standpoint that is fair to all people of all cultures. For me, this is the standpoint that the end justifies the means, otherwise known as utilitarianism.
The most important question of all is what should one do since the ultimate purpose of answering questions is either to satisfy curiosity or to decide which action to take. Complicated analysis is often required to answer that question. Beyond ordinary analysis, one must also have a system of values, and the correct system of values is utilitarianism.
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.
Utilitarianism is a moral theory that approaches moral questions of right and wrong by considering the actual consequences of a variety of possible actions. These consequences are generally those that either positively or negatively affect other living beings. If there are both good and bad actual consequences of a particular action, the moral individual must weigh the good against the bad and go with the action that will produce the most good for the most amount of people. If the individual finds that there are only bad consequences, then she must go with the behavior that causes the least amount of bad consequences to the least amount of people. There are many different methods for calculating the utility of each moral decision and coming up with the best
There are many essays, papers and books written on the concept of right and wrong. Philosophers have theorized about moral actions for eons, one such philosopher is John Stuart Mill. In his book Utilitarianism he tries to improve on the theories of utilitarianism from previous philosophers, as he is a strong believer himself in the theory. In Mill's book he presents the ideology that there is another branch on the utilitarian tree. This branch being called rule-utilitarianism. Mill makes a distinction between two different types of utilitarianism; act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism. Rule-utilitarianism seems like a major advance over the simple theory of act-utilitarianism. But for all its added complexity, it may not actually be a significant improvement. This is proven when looking at the flaws in act-utilitarianism and relating them to the ways in which rule-utilitarianism tries to overcome them. As well one must look at the obstacles that rule-utilitarianism has on it's own as a theory. The problems of both act and rule utilitarianism consist of being too permissive and being able to justify any crime, not being able to predict the outcomes of one's actions, non-universality and the lose of freewill.
In everyday life, we are always contemplating whether or not our daily actions are morally right or wrong. If something morally wrong occurs, people would naturally ask themselves “what went wrong?” In Philosophy, the Utilitarian belief states that the main goal is to make life better by allowing more positive things happen, and to try to mitigate the bad events in one’s life. To make this happen though, one must try to avoid pain and try to increase happiness and pleasure by doing what allows them to be happy. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) states that Utillitarians, “reject moral codes or systems that consist of commands or taboos that are based on customs, traditions, or orders given by leaders or supernatural beings. Instead,
When reading about utilitarianism, it became evident that there are multiple ways to interpret this theory of ethics. However, the classical utilitarianism states that we ought to always to do whatever brings out the greatest amount of pleasure over pain for everyone affected by the action. On the surface, this seems to be a plausible theory, however,when looked at below the surface, there are possible consequences. Utilitarianism is potentially dangerous because the option that has the highest point total could be dangerous. For example, if I were living in Nazi Germany, there might be more benefits to assassinate and kill Hitler despite the fact that the rule of thumb usually says that killing is wrong. The second problem with utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is fallacious since the theory only focuses on consequences but there are other elements to think about besides the consequences someone is going to receive. Many things need to be taken into account besides consequences when we ethically look at an individual’s actions. So yes utilitarianism being too demanding as an ethical theory is a pretty good criticism. When it comes to making a decision utilitarian’s have to always think about the decision that will make the best use out of utility.
Overall, I do believe that my moral code is based on utilitarian views. I believe everyone should be free to be who they want to be, do what they want to do and choose their own life. Below, I will go through some different aspects of the utilitarian view that apply to me and what I believe I would do based on my moral code in certain situations.
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.