Pros And Cons Of Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism was founded by Jeremy Bentham and further defined by John Stuart Mill to fully be developed into an ethical philosophy by the nineteenth century. In Utilitarianism, consequences are the only thing that matters. Motives only matter if the result is happiness being maximized. Utilitarianism has a foundation based on giving the majority of people the greatest quality of happiness. In order to do so, actions are never dependent on self-interest or self-sacrifice, and impartiality is often required. In this paper, I will inform you that Utilitarianism is a generally good philosophy because it provides the most happiness for the largest majority of the population, it causes you to think beyond yourself, and it is not an
Utilitarians sometimes violate justice to give the majority happiness. They have to choose between the philosophy they believe in and their moral opinions when the two contradict each other. Therefore, morality may take the back seat to a situation when Utilitarianism is chosen. This is why people argue against the good of Utilitarianism. In a lot of situations it is better to make the decision that will give the majority of people happiness. For example, in a situation where there is mass destruction, like a mass bomb attack, and there are not enough surgeons to treat everyone immediately, they will triage all of the patients first. By doing this they will treat the most critical cases first. Some people may die who needed immediate attention but in the long run more people will survive. In a circumstance like this one I agree with Utilitarians to give the greatest happiness to the greatest number. It benefits the majority at the expense of a select few. However, there are situations that do not make the decision as clear and easy to make. Let’s say there was a train headed towards three individuals who cannot see the fast-moving vehicle approaching and you have a lever controlling the direction of the train. However, on the other train track there is another man standing there. Would you pull the lever to kill the one person opposed to killing three men or would you consider that murder because you purposely made the decision to sacrifice that one man’s life? Morally, it may be difficult to pull that lever, but Utilitarians believe in finding the best outcome possible no matter what the means are of achieving it. Although it is a tough situation to decide between what your morals suggest and the philosophy you support, most people agree it would be the better decision to save three lives and risk one rather than save one at the expense