John Stuart Mills believed very strongly in individual liberty and freedom. However I think that it is first important to state that Mills did not believe in unlimited liberty. He thought that this would lead to conflict, and therefore he believed that government was essential. He believed that the role of the government should be to protect citizens from such conflict, yet still allow for individual liberty and progress.…
The two articles we are comparing in this discussion are the Baine and Galva articles; both of these articles show a form of support for vaccines and one shows us how much power the government has when it comes down to enforcing medically ordered rules in times of crisis. The Baine article talks more about how parents should not have the power to overrule a doctors decision that a child needs a vaccine; Galva’s article is focused on how the government reacts in times of extreme medical emergencies or global pandemics. Let’s first focus on the Baine article, he believes that parent need to listen to medical advise from doctors because of two main reasons, one they are not only looking out for the child getting the vaccine but also the health…
“The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness” (11). That quote is from “Utilitarianism” written by John Stuart Mill. Mill is noted in history as a man who pushed for radical change of social and legal principles using Utilitarianism as his guide. That quote sums up his belief in that theory. In this essay I will be discussing Mill, the theory of Utilitarianism and how that theory relates to contemporary ethical issues.…
Throughout history philosophers have introduced new ideas and belief systems into society in hopes to better the world they lived in. Many philosophers have introduced ideas that are still in practice in American government. While popular belief among those trying to pave a path forward was that government, as it stood, was tyrannical and overly restrictive, however John Stuart Mill believed that through government happiness and freedom can be achieved.…
the issue here. When an individual's use of drugs leads him to harm others, it…
Classical economists analyzed the nature of value primarily on the labor theory. Without a clear grasp of the concept of demand, Smith, Malthus and Ricardo often raise confusing and self-contradictory explanations of the definition of “value.” The utilitarianists, like Jeremy Bentham and J. S. Mill, offered a revolutionary approach to understand the demand-side of the economy. They consider the usefulness of the product as a whole rather than its process of production. In the development of the utilitarianism, reformists present a much more realistic, practical and comprehensive discussion of the nature of the economy: the necessity of comparative utilities, the concern about the distribution and quality of the utility, the key social influence…
This article discusses the controversy of vaccines in American society. From the source of the ideas that caused the issues to the discredit of the person who “poisoned the well”, this article was very thorough. Ms. Lemmons has experience as a freelance writer on well documented topics and has provided her work to several well known publishers. This article was intended for the educated person exploring the rumors of vaccinations benefit being outweighed by the risk. The author is very neutral in her writing. I appreciate her stance and use of fact to support her claims. Stating only the fact that can be documented…
In 2010, the study that sparked the anti-vaccine movement was fully retracted from the journal which published it as a result of its author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, being found to have a massive conflict of interest, amidst other ethical issues. Dr. Wakefield was employed by lawyers suing over alleged vaccine injuries (Novella, 2010). For the purpose of money, Dr. Wakefield sparked a worldwide debate over the legitimacy of vaccines as a whole, and has caused the deaths of thousands by proxy. The misinformed parent isn’t the victim, they were vaccinated and protected, the one suffering is the child whose parents feared autism more than measles. The Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine is a beneficial form of treatment and any links to autism…
Through the course of this paper the author will try to demonstrate, depicting both sides of the argument, the reasons in which a follower of John Stuart Mill 's "Utilitarianism" would disagree with the events taking place in Ursula Le Guin 's "The One 's Who Walk Away from Omelas."…
Pleasures and pain contribute in determining the classification of one’s actions. In Mill’s Utilitarianism, he examines what determines an action to be considered right or wrong, his own version of the hedonistic utilitarianism argument. He claims that these qualities, including the quantity, are an important factor in determining, when included in the consequences, the criteria of an action. The consequences are significant in determining the results of one’s actions.…
Imagine living with smallpox, rabies, polio, and other fatal diseases running rampant. Imagine the fear instilled in daily life because of those diseases and that there are no cures or prevention methods. Fortunately, we live in a time with vaccinations. Vaccines save millions of lives each year, have eradicated smallpox disease, and substantially lessened the chance of contracting other diseases. Vaccines are considered to be one of the greatest medical achievements. However, whether to vaccinate or not is a steadily growing debate, as there are no US federal laws mandating vaccination, certain vaccines are required for public school with a few exemptions, parents ultimately have the choice whether to vaccinate or not. Although, vaccinations…
Many diseases such as polio and the measles which were nearly eradicated in the U.S. are starting to return because of parents who do not vaccinate their children. Riker’s writing brings to light many of the issues when it comes to the topic of vaccines. In the case of Kawelo who thinks “vaccines could make [her children] sick” (Riker) she is merely uneducated about just how many lives they have saved. The argument that vaccines cause autism is based on a scientific study that was proven to be faked. Yet people will still quote this study as evidence to support the argument for anti-vaccines. Hawaii is just one example where these anti-vaccines are causing more harm than they realize. The diseases that vaccines have been created to combat are hundreds of times worst than whatever side effects people think they cause. By not getting a vaccination they not only put themselves at risk but everyone around them as well. The reason the vaccines work so well is due to herd immunity: where everyone is immune to the virus. Recently this was shown in Disneyland when a measles outbreak closed the park of nearly a week. The reason that this outbreak happened was due to the fact of parents’ refused to get their children vaccinated. If one single person does not get vaccinated the entire herd immunity is broken. Going from the uneducated side to the religious side of the argument is not much different. This side still involves parents who refuse to look at scientific evidence when it comes to the life of their child. Some parents believe that God will cure their child of any illness that afflicts them and that vaccines are just going against his will. While there is nothing wrong with being religious, there is everything wrong by making a child suffer and possibly die when they could have been treated and given a true chance at life. The parents in the Hawaii…
It is believed that the source of the outbreak was likely brought over by travelers from overseas. This would not be a problem if all of the children were vaccinated; but, because they were not, a small epidemic of measles was the result. Measles had been declared eliminated in the country in the year 2000 which leads a poll of ninety-two percent of physicians to believe that this outbreak is directly attributed to parent not vaccinating their kids. this affects not only the unvaccinated children of Anti-Vaxxers but those that are unable to be vaccinated. Young babies and the elderly with immune disorders are also at risk. Anti-Vaxxers need to realize they are risking the lives of more than just their children in making their decision to not have them vaccinated.…
Utilitarianism is a practical flexible response that makes the world a better place with pragmatic solutions that try to prevent harm and bring about the greater good. In the greater good they believe in personal happiness with an intrinsic value. Personal happiness cannot be viewed as a bad thing. Our basic human intuition is that harming people is intrinsically wrong. Modern utilitarians have expanded Bentham’s theories when addressing an issue such as abortion, act utilitarianism believes that the action is assessed, morally purely on its consequences not necessarily on the actions taken before hand. In addressing the criticisms of utilitarianism, to define happiness itself - what is happiness to the Catholic Church is different to the…
In the winter of 1995, a fire broke out in the Malden Mills factory and was the largest fire that Massachusetts had seen in the last century. No one was killed, but the town was devastated. Malden Mills was one of the few large employers in a town that was already in desperate straights. Employing over 3,000 employees from Lawrence, Massachusetts and its neighboring communities.…