Similarities Between Mill And White Utilitarianism

According to Mill (1848) and White (n.d.), utilitarianism is a Greatest Happiness Principle. It focuses on both long term and short term consequences of the behavior and the potential happinesses and pains that can generate by that behavior. Motives cannot determine the right or wrong of that behavior. If the behavior will cause harm to society or others, even the motives are noble, that behavior should not be done. The final decision should generate the greatest happiness for the greatest number, in order words, maximizing the human benefit and minimizing the damage.

There are 3 stakeholders will be affected in this case, the 33 year old patient, her parents and other patients. There are only two options - tell the whole story to patient’s parents or not. Referring to Mill (1848), the final decision of utilitarianism should generate the greatest happiness for the greatest number after comparing the consequences of those two options.

Firstly, for the 33 year old patient, she will be happy if the physician do not tell the truth to her parents. Because the physician can protect her right of confidential. Conversely, if the physician tell the truth to patient’s parents, they will feel angry and may commit suicide or do something that unexpected as they
According to Everson-Rose & Lewis (2005), sudden anger has high potential risk on health problems such as coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction. If they do not know the truth, they will not angry, and hence avoiding the potential risk on health problems. On the other hands, since patient’s parents are the fundamentalist Christians, they can seek help like financial subsidies from church for their daughter’s funeral as the church do not know the diagnosis of their daughter. Therefore, do not tell the truth can avoid potential risk on health problems of patient’s parents and help those family to gain help from the church or