Preview

The Utilitarianism Theory

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
The Utilitarianism theory supports individual capability to foresee the costs of an act. A Utilitarian considers the decision of giving the best profit to a large number of people; this is known to be ethically correct.
Act utilitarianism and Rule utilitarianism are two forms of Utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism is when someone carries out any activity which is beneficial among most people, in spite of the community restrictions (e.g. Laws) as well as individual feelings. Rule utilitarianism is when someone considers Law and is anxious with equality. Anyone who is a rule utilitarian tries to find out what benefits majority through equality.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Explain the Main Strengths of Mill's Utilitarianism
    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Explain the Main Strengths of Mill's Utilitarianism

    Act utilitarianism allows anything—breaking promises, assassinating people, torturing—if that would produce the greatest utility in a particular situation. Rule utilitarianism even appears to make progress with the justice/human rights objection. Rule utilitarianism requires that a rule or practice…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Eth 316 Week 1
    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Eth 316 Week 1

    Utilitarianism usually relies on predicting the consequences of an action. Utilitarianism sets that an action is morally right when the action produces more total utility for the group than any other alternative (Boylan, Chapter 12, 2009). In this ethical theory, the consequences should fully be considered, as it will affect the most people.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Applying the Utilitarianism Theory: Case Study
    • 1126 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Applying the Utilitarianism Theory: Case Study

    Upon applying utilitarianism theory to Tom’s current situation, Tom would maximise the greatest good and increase the happiness of more people and parties by exaggerating his work experience. The first party that would benefit from this is his parents. As was said in the case study (2014), Tom’s mother had lost her job a few years ago and has remained unemployed since. Tom’s father has also not been doing well financially, as his business has not been doing well as of lately, which would lead to less income for the family. Tom’s parents would be better off financially, as they will no longer need to support Tom if he were to be hired by the accounting firm.…

    • 1126 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    act and rule
    • 777 Words
    • 3 Pages

    act and rule

    Throughout this essay I will be comparing the Act and Rule variations of Utilitarianism to uncover the difference between the two. Utilitarianism is teleological or consequentialist approach to ethics, which argues that something is good or bad according to its benefit for the majority of the people. Jeremy Bentham formalized this theory through his principle of Utility, “the greatest good for the greatest number”. Act Utilitarianism is often linked to Jeremy Bentham’s principle of Utility as it follows the one rule – “the greatest good for the greatest number”. So an individual action is only right if it promotes happiness. Rule utilitarianism argues that moral rules, also based on the principle of Utility, should be kept by everyone in similar circumstances.…

    • 777 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Shaw and Barry
    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Shaw and Barry

    Two different forms of utilitarianism are described in our text. The first is called act utilitarianism. According to Shaw and Barry, act utilitarianism states that we must ask ourselves what the consequences of a particular act in a particular situation will be for all those affected (p.60).…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism Classical Utilitarianism
    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Utilitarianism Classical Utilitarianism

    There is a further division between utilitarians; Act Utilitarianism and Rule Utilitarianism. Rule Utilitarianism, holds that one should always follow rules that tend to promote the general welfare of humans for example a rule might be not to killing people. Act Utilitarianism holds that one should always act to promote the general welfare.…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Act-Utilitarianism Requires Too Much Impartiality?
    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Act-Utilitarianism Requires Too Much Impartiality?

    To begin, Act-Utilitarianism can be defined as a method of behavior in which any act carried out that maximizes the overall well-being of each individual effected is considered moral and correct. Whereas, Rule-Utilitarianism is based on overall behaviors/rules set in motion, rather than just one act. All correct moral principles or rules should be followed, regardless of happiness. To further distinguish the two principles, our textbook gives us one clear-cut example. In this example, a girl decides to kill his uncle because he is an evil and vindictive person and killing him would create more happiness than it would diminish, which Act Utilitarianism would define as appropriate and just.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Examples Of Act Utilitarianism
    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Examples Of Act Utilitarianism

    Person B: Can you tell me more about act and rule utilitarianism? Person A: Act-utilitarianism states that an act is morally needed if and for the reason that the person act’s expected utility is greater than the expected utility of any alternative individual act. It promotes any act that heightens welfare and which is done by a specific individual. On the other hand in rule utilitarianism…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Act Utilitarianism Essay
    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Act Utilitarianism Essay

    There are a lot of differences and similarities between act and rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarian supports the principle of utility must be applied to each individual situation. The rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness. This was Bentham’s idea when he established that pleasure and pain was important qualities for determining what was morally right or wrong. With Act Utilitarianism, you must decide what action will bring the greatest good for the greatest number in the circumstance. For example, if you are in situation where lying would bring about the greatest good then, you should lie. This supports that the value of the consequence is in the particular act that would lead to the greatest good for the majority even it is was breaking the law.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism
    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Utilitarianism

    Personal experiences have the tendency to impact and alter people’s views. With many backgrounds, it’s difficult for people to agree on what is considered good or bad because of the different background they come from. Furthermore the interpretation of the importance of good for some people may not be important to others.…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism
    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Utilitarianism

    In vitro fertilization has become very popular for those who are not able to conceive naturally. There are many factors to consider when deciding to have any reproductive procedure done. The parents-to-be need to be well educated with the procedure that will going to be performed. Research is very important. Having a clear understanding on what will be happening before, during, and after having this procedure. Becoming pregnant is similar to winning the lottery. There’s a slim chance of winning it. If they lose, couples end up looking into other alternatives such as in vitro, a fertilization procedure that can become a long journey for both prospective parents.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    utilitarianism
    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages

    utilitarianism

    Utilitarianism is a philosophical theory that believes that right thing to do comes from a measurement of the amount of pleasure over the amount of pain, and decides that the right thing to do results in what will be the greatest pleasure for the majority of the group. In other words by calculating happiness you will be able to decide what the right thing to do is as long as it is right for the majority of the people. This seems as if it will only help the people that agree on the same things. If the majority always see eye to eye on what is pleasurable and what is painful then it will work in their favor. However, that leaves out the minority that may not agree with what is pleasurable. Utilitarianism seems as though it will stop individual rights, because the only way to conform to utilitarianism is by always agreeing with the majority of the group. While reading this chapter one example came to mind, I brought a dilemma to decide how the majority and minority might see different on a subject. In many people’s eyes eating food out of a dumpster is unacceptable, therefore watching someone perform in this act may be more painful than pleasurable to see. On the other hand there are people who may enjoy eating out of a dumpster with the beliefs that may contain more nutritional value and they only eat the foods that are not spoiled and rotten. These people are the minority to this social issue, however in utilitarianism because the majority of people think that eating of the dumpster is disgusting and morally wrong, they outlaw being able to do such things, which lead to the minority of people who do enjoy eating food from the dumpster in more pain than pleasure. The argument can also be made that the majority is helping the minority increase their pleasure by getting them away from the diseases that are in the dumpster. Likewise, the argument from the minority may be that they are helping the majority not be wasteful by using the foods that are…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    utilitarianism
    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages

    utilitarianism

    “Utilitarianism is not compatible with a religious approach to ethics” To what extent is this a fair statement?…

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Theory Of Utilitarianism
    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Theory Of Utilitarianism

    Utilitarianism is a philosophical idea that can be used by individuals, governments or agencies, in which the purpose is to help pick an action to take. According to Utilitarianism, the action one should take show be the action that produces the most pleasure and the least pain for everyone involved. In order to make this decision, Bentham suggests using a hedonic calculus, through which you "...sum up the numbers expressive of the degree of good tendency, which the action has, with respect to each individual..." (198). This would then give you a number in which you can estimate how much pleasure is caused by a specific action, from which you should choose the action that leads to the most pleasure and the least amount of pain. In order to…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism
    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Utilitarianism

    Both Kantian Ethics and utilitarian ethics are two of the most well know conceptions on human nature and how we as human beings should go about living our lives. They also have strong cores and there purpose is very clear. According to utilitarianism humans have two masters’ pain and happiness, only good actions will achieve happiness and will also minimizes pain. In one sentence you can describe utilitarianism as “the greatest good for the greatest amount of people”.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics