examine the key principles of utilitarianism
Outline the important concepts of utilitarianism (21)
The theory of utilitarianism determines the rightness or wrongness of an action by its consequences. This is determined by measuring the amount of pleasure or pain brought to someone caused by an action. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory of ethics, this means that it is concerned with the outcome and the consequences, meaning that an act is not right or wrong in itself but is right or wrong depending on the outcome of said action. The main founder of this theory was Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). Bentham worked to fight many things during his time such as industrialisation, mass migration and poverty. Utilitarianism is a relativist system – meaning there are no fixed rules, it is also concequentialist – this means that morality is by the consequences that directly follow an action. Utilitarianism tends to be brought down to one main rule and that is: ‘The greatest good for the greatest number’ whilst the principle of this rule is aimed to satisfy the majority, it does have its flaw is the fact that the minority still suffer.
The principle of utility, as mentioned before, is: ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’ this means that if certain situations occur, advocates of utility would always choose the option that brought about the most pleasure for the most amount of people, this means that they would choose the action that brings about the better outcome, regardless as to whether or not the action may be perceived as right or wrong by society in normal circumstances due to the fact they are interested in bringing the most amount of pleasure possible. However, with this principle, comes a downside in the fact that whilst the majority may be satisfied or happy in a particular situation, there will always be a minority, regardless of how small, that are unhappy. However followers of the principle of utility may be encouraged to engage in wrong doings such as torture, whilst most would see this as an
The theory of utilitarianism determines the rightness or wrongness of an action by its consequences. This is determined by measuring the amount of pleasure or pain brought to someone caused by an action. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory of ethics, this means that it is concerned with the outcome and the consequences, meaning that an act is not right or wrong in itself but is right or wrong depending on the outcome of said action. The main founder of this theory was Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). Bentham worked to fight many things during his time such as industrialisation, mass migration and poverty. Utilitarianism is a relativist system – meaning there are no fixed rules, it is also concequentialist – this means that morality is by the consequences that directly follow an action. Utilitarianism tends to be brought down to one main rule and that is: ‘The greatest good for the greatest number’ whilst the principle of this rule is aimed to satisfy the majority, it does have its flaw is the fact that the minority still suffer.
The principle of utility, as mentioned before, is: ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’ this means that if certain situations occur, advocates of utility would always choose the option that brought about the most pleasure for the most amount of people, this means that they would choose the action that brings about the better outcome, regardless as to whether or not the action may be perceived as right or wrong by society in normal circumstances due to the fact they are interested in bringing the most amount of pleasure possible. However, with this principle, comes a downside in the fact that whilst the majority may be satisfied or happy in a particular situation, there will always be a minority, regardless of how small, that are unhappy. However followers of the principle of utility may be encouraged to engage in wrong doings such as torture, whilst most would see this as an