Today's laws consider human life the highest of all rights. Hence also the ethical difficulty relating to abortion. Although abortion might be the utilitarian course of action; the mother does not have the finances to support a baby: there is no husband; the baby will not have access to his or her basic rights as a person, the ethical viewpoint of many fundamentalists is that it simply cannot be morally justified to kill an unborn baby.
The problem related to utilitarianism and humanity is therefore the fact that human beings are generally emotionally involved in their decision making. Utilitarianism divorces emotion from the decisions to be made. This can also be seen in Marilyn's story. Barton's and the Commander's emotions are clearly deeply touched by Marilyn's predicament and please. The reader's emotions are similarly touched. Interestingly, however, both the reader and Barton, and ultimately Marilyn, understand that the utilitarian way…...
Lastly, it runs counter to the view that morality is essentially related to the concept of justice. Many critics of this theory argue that, "morality is not based on consequences of actions. Instead, it is based on the fundamental concept of justice" (Lee). In the final analysis, the dilemma in utilitarianism is that it unable to deal with a wide range of moral issue and actins and, as such, tends to subvert a more comprehensive and wide ranging understanding of morality and ethics.
eferences
Consequentialism. etrieved June 26, 2009, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consequentialism
Hedonic Calculus. etrieved June 26, 2009, from ttp://www.utilitarianism.com/felicalc.htm
Hostility and the Minimization of Suffering. etrieved June 26, 2009, from http://www.socrethics.com/www.negutil/www.monuism/NU.htm
John Stuart Mill: Overview. etrieved June 26, 2009, from http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/m/milljs.htm
Lee E. Introduction to Utilitarianism. etrieved June 26, 2009, from http://www.victorianweb.org/philosophy/utilitarianism.html
Mill, John Stuart ( 1985) On Liberty. New York: John B. Alden.
Mill J.H. (1863) UTILITAIANISM: Chapter 2. etrieved June 26, 2009, from http://www.utilitarianism.com/mill2.htm
Utilitarianism: A Closer Look
Utilitarianism is an old political theory. It has been put forth in one form or another by many political philosophers over the years as the basis for a good political system. Epicurus was one of the early proponents of utilitarianism, though he did not call it by that name. However, he did promote the idea that happiness or pleasure was a good indicator of moral decisions. Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Henry Sigwick, all well-known political philosophers, also put forth utilitarian ideas in their political philosophies. While a utilitarian political philosophy may have some uses in making decisions that affect a large number of people, such as the decision to go to war or the decision to raise taxes to pay for health care, utilitarianism does not take into consideration the distinctions between people. There is no room for individual thought or action in utilitarianism, as…...
Utilitarianism as it Relates to Sports
There are many philosophies that make up the social and political structures of nations around the world. Many of these philosophies can also be applied to sports and sports related activities. The purpose of this discussion is to explore the concept of Utilitarianism.
We will begin by defining the philosophy and addressing the beliefs of Utilitarians. We will then discuss how Utilitarian beliefs relate to sports.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism stems from the teachings of John Stuart Mills and Jeremy entham. The philosophy asserts, "that an action is right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it tends to produce the reverse of happiness -- not just the happiness of the performer of the action but also that of everyone affected by it."(West) Utilitarianism holds that even when the motivation behind an act is bad the consequences can be good. The founding fathers of the philosophy are said…...
The satisfaction derived from that is by reason of good will towards the common man and not some universal pleasure felt by all men.
But what about pain? Is Mills seems to be stating that happiness is the absence of pain. But is not some pain beneficial? Our reaction to spoiled milk that prevents us from drinking it for example. ait, perhaps there are levels of pain that need to be analyzed as well. Good pain vs. Bad pain, there is certainly some credence there. Is there good pleasure and bad pleasure? According to Mills that should be true, yet he does not seem to define it so. Pain is also part of experience so in the experience of pain are the beginnings of the knowledge of pleasure, and perhaps the distinction between higher and lower pleasures that Mills is putting forth.
Utilitarianism, as a moral system, is basically one in which one creates a moral and ethical system based not in each specific action having an essential moral component in and of itself, but in terms of defining the morality of an action by the ends that it is achieved. Moreover, in utilitarianism, morality is linked solely to the satisfaction of desires and thus represents a sort of ethical hedonism:
Utilitarianism is an approach to mortality that treats pleasure or desire-satisfaction as the element in human good and that regards the morality of actions as entirely dependent upon on consequences or results for human (or sentient) well-being.... most subsequent utilitarians discard religious traditions and social conventions in favor of treating human well-being or happiness as the touchstone for all moral evaluation
Honderich 890)
Although this is basically true of all utilitarian systems, it would be both overly simplistic and greatly inaccurate to assume, therefore,…...
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Bibliography
Honderich, Ted. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1995.
Utilitarianism, Deontology, Virtue Ethics
Ethics essay: The similarities and differences between utilitarianism, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics
Utilitarianism is the philosophy that all ethical decisions must strive to do 'the greatest good for the greatest number of people.' In this ethical system, the ethical actor functions as a moral observer, dispassionately making decisions without regard to him or herself or his or her personal investment in the decision. Utilitarianism is a system of consequence-based ethics. It evaluates ethics solely upon the outcomes of decisions, not whether the decisions are keeping with moral laws. Depending on the situation, different ethical actions may be required. "The greatest number" is said to include all who are "affected by the action in question with each to count as one, and no one as more than one" (Kay, 1997, Notes on utilitarianism).
However, an obvious problem with utilitarianism is that defining what the 'greatest good' is in a…...
Utilitarianism and Deontology
John Stuart Mill's theory of Utilitarianism and Immanuel Kant's Deontological theory approach the question of ethics from diametrically opposite points-of-view: "Consequentialist theories...try to ground moral judgments in human well-being. Kantian theories...try to ground moral judgments in the rational nature of the moral subject, whose inherent dignity they emphasize." (Aune & Berger, p. 125) It is the objective of this paper to briefly explain and compare the two theories.
Mill's theory of Utilitarianism is considered a consequentialist theory of ethics for the simple reason that the theory propounds that the ethicality of actions is a function of their consequences. For Mill, that consequence was happiness because he deemed that goal as the one that human beings naturally sought out. Thus, he considered utilitarianism a morally optimal course of action, as it offered a path that was most useful to human beings. hile Mill's theory may have been based on a…...
Utilitarianism applies to the utility of the end result. There are, at least, two models that are similar in content: Mill and Benthams's Principle of Utility. Mill stated that it was the consequences of the good or bad action to the individual that determined morality of that action, whilst Bentham proposed moral consequence arising from "the greatest good for the greatest number of people." Pain and pleasure, he wrote, are our masters; and the hedonistic (or 'felicific') calulus should be used to determine this greatest happiness principle (Dinwiddy, 1989). Both Mill and Bentham advocate a system of ethics that depended on dissemination of the greatest amount of good to the largest quantity of people.
In this case we have at least three individuals to consider: the psychologist himself, the students, and the department chair. Each -according to utilitarianism -- will need to consider the best that is (a) for the recipient,…...
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References
Dinwiddie, J.R. Bentham Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Modern Library classics. Ethics: the essential writings, New York: Modern Library, 2010.
According to utilitarianism, the physical act of adultery cannot be judged moral or immoral until situated by intention and circumstances. In this case, the married woman was separated from her husband and wasn't aware of the no-dating rule in the handbook. Further, there is no evidence of direct or immediate harm. The affair did not disrupt the workplace, cause internal turmoil or damage Wal-Mart's reputation as evidenced by the fact that the manager only became aware of the situation when papers were served at the store. Therefore, there is not significant justification to infringe on the employment rights of the couple by firing them.
Case 2- Is email private?
The interests of the few for the betterment of all should prevail in matters of workplace surveillance such as reading corporate email. The cases of the reporter and the supervisor are very different. The Los Angeles Times reporter did…...
Utilitarianism, a philosophy first espoused by Jeremy Bentham, embodies an important set of concepts in that it coincided with the re-thinking of what we know as liberalism. The liberalism of the early 19th century was a product of classical economics; it was the ideology of laissez-faire and the free market. However, utilitarianism was to offer an alternate set of opinions regarding the role of government in society; utilitarians such as Bentham and Mill questioned some of the more libertarian principles espoused by British economists Adam Smith and avid Ricardo. This set of principles implored government to take a pro-active role in providing a quality standard of living to the majority of the people living within the society. Unlike socialism and other contemporaneous ideas, however, utilitarianism had implicit constraints; it was to inspire the 'progressive' liberalism of the 20th century and result in the modern concept of liberalism as an ideology…...
Bentham is looking for measurable outcomes, because he wants to quantify ethics instead of leaving it up for endless debate. Good intentions can lead to undesirable consequences, which is why it is important to think through actions and consider all possible outcomes. If the outcome harms others, then the action was morally wrong. It makes more sense to critique actions than motives. According to Bentham, "there is no such thing as a motive which is a bad one in itself," (cited on p 279). Motives cannot be measured as well as consequences can. Giving a gift to someone is usually a good thing, even if the gift-giver gives grudgingly. Likewise, a donation to charity has positive outcomes, even if the person is motivated by guilt. The hedonistic calculus can also explain why crises often lead to opportunities for growth and positive change. A divorce, which could be measured as morally…...
Utilitarianism Ethics as it elates to Fisheries
Fishing is an organized activity of people to catch fish or other marine organisms. Normally, fishery is a source of human food, even though it also serves other objectives like sport or recreational fishing or getting ornamental fish or fish products for extraction of fish oil. Industrial fisheries are those where the catch is not considered for direct consumption for humans. (Fishery: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Ethical dilemma we are facing enlight of the shortage of fishing areas and the abundance or lack of abundance of fish in those areas
Overfishing can be a threat to our food supply. According to some scientist, it will cause massive changes in the ecology of the ocean like degradation of reefs, damage to bottom grasses, eutrophication of estuaries. Even though application of fertilizer, runoff, sedimentation are damaging the ecosystems, it is been argued that overfishing has been the main…...
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REFERENCES
'Decommissioning, abandonment and removal of obsolete offshore installations"
Jim is faced with a life or death decision; he holds the lives of many in his hands. He can either let an entire tribe die, or kill one tribe member to allow the rest of the tribe to live. In this circumstance, some people would say that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. However, as a Rule Utilitarian, Jim will consider the ruling against murder. If he commits murder, he will be breaking one of the oldest rules in the book. Murder is recognized as a crime in nearly every civilization, and breaking this rule would go against the Rule Utilitarianism's principles. On the other hand, Rule Utilitarianism follows rules so strictly because most of the time rules should be followed. In the case of murder, most of the time people should not go against this rule and commit such an act. However, there…...
Utilitarianism is one a normative ethical philosophy, and it stands as one of the most important of its type. At its heart, utilitarianism is a consequentialist philosophy, in that the ethics of an action are dependent on the consequences of an action. Before the advent of utilitarianism, consequentialist philosophy emphasizes the self, in particular hedonism, but utilitarianism expanded the scope of consequences to include those to all society. Today, such scope has arguably been expanded further so that outcomes to the environment and other non-human entities is also taken into consideration (Driver, 2014). The most common distillation of utilitarian philosophy is in the phrase "the greatest good for the greatest number."
Core Concept
If the morality of a decision rests on its consequences, that places significant onus on the decision-maker to consider the full range of those consequences. In early consequentialism, the consequences considered were largely to oneself, making it relatively easy…...
Normative theory provides an absolutist framework for approaching philosophy and the soft sciences, and has a special application in philosophy, law, and the social sciences. Normative theory states that some things are morally superior to other things. They are concerned with right or wrong and have a goal of changing institutions, values, or norms to reflect the “right” or “good” perspective. Obviously, since normative theory focuses on what is good, it also involves moral judgments of what is bad.
To understand normative theory, it may help to think about the concept of sin. Even if you....
1. The Concept of Justice in Rawls and Nozick's Political Theory: - Analyze and compare John Rawls' and Robert Nozick's theories of justice. - Discuss the implications of their views on social and economic equality. - Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their respective arguments.
2. Utilitarianism vs. Deontology: A Comparative Analysis: - Compare and contrast the ethical theories of utilitarianism and deontology. - Explore the strengths and weaknesses of each theory in terms of their application to political decision-making. - Discuss the relevance of these theories in contemporary political debates.
3. The Legitimacy of Political Authority: - Examine different theories of....
I. Introduction A. Hook: Begin with a thought-provoking question or anecdote that highlights the enigma of human nature. B. Thesis statement: State the central argument that humans are multifaceted beings with both noble and darker impulses.
II. The Social Facet A. Prosociality: Discuss humans' capacity for empathy, altruism, and cooperation. - Cite evolutionary theories on the benefits of social behavior. - Provide examples of individuals who display extraordinary acts of kindness. B. Conformity: Analyze the tendency to follow group norms, even when they conflict with personal beliefs. - Explain the psychological mechanisms behind conformity. - Discuss....
A. Background and Significance - Emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its increasing presence in society - Potential benefits of AI, such as automation, efficiency, and personalized experiences
B. Ethical Concerns
- Ethical implications of AI in areas such as: - Privacy and data security - Job displacement and economic inequality - Bias and discrimination - Automation of decision-making and accountability
II. Literature Review
A. Existing Research on Ethical Implications of AI - Review of previous studies that have examined ethical issues related to AI - Identification of key ethical concerns and perspectives
B. Theoretical Frameworks - Discussion of ethical theories that can be applied to AI, such as: ....
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