Utilitarianism Is Concerned With The Happiness Of The Community Essay
Utilitarianism is concerned only with the happiness of the community and not that of the individual. How far do you agree?
Utilitarianism by definition is the greatest happiness for the greatest number, therefore a community of people would most likely gain priority over an individual. If a positive act were to benefit a family of people and the opposite act would benefit a single being, the positive one would be what Bentham would encourage as it would have the best results for a larger amount of people. However, an immoral act such as gang rape which is arguably something that could never be justified, would be deemed ‘acceptable’ according to act utilitarianism as the majority of people involved would be happy, leaving only the insignificant minority unhappy.
Whether Utilitarianism is only concerned with the happiness of the …show more content…
The Hedonic Calculus would seem to support the community over the individual in certain, less extreme cases, but in situations such as rape, the moral choice is always the right one, no matter how many people are involved. Although an immoral act will always be immoral according to rule utilitarianism, despite how many people are involved due to higher and lower pleasures. The potential of happiness within a community of people compared to a person on their own is so much greater and gives the community power over the individual as their potential happiness can be seen to be endless.
Rule Utilitarianism has rules that strive to achieve the greatest happiness and these rules are absolute and apply to everyone, so there is no distinction between individuals and communities; if an act is wrong there is no negotiation. This version of Utilitarianism focuses on the act itself whereas Act Utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of the act and would provide more grounds for the community to
Utilitarianism by definition is the greatest happiness for the greatest number, therefore a community of people would most likely gain priority over an individual. If a positive act were to benefit a family of people and the opposite act would benefit a single being, the positive one would be what Bentham would encourage as it would have the best results for a larger amount of people. However, an immoral act such as gang rape which is arguably something that could never be justified, would be deemed ‘acceptable’ according to act utilitarianism as the majority of people involved would be happy, leaving only the insignificant minority unhappy.
Whether Utilitarianism is only concerned with the happiness of the …show more content…
The Hedonic Calculus would seem to support the community over the individual in certain, less extreme cases, but in situations such as rape, the moral choice is always the right one, no matter how many people are involved. Although an immoral act will always be immoral according to rule utilitarianism, despite how many people are involved due to higher and lower pleasures. The potential of happiness within a community of people compared to a person on their own is so much greater and gives the community power over the individual as their potential happiness can be seen to be endless.
Rule Utilitarianism has rules that strive to achieve the greatest happiness and these rules are absolute and apply to everyone, so there is no distinction between individuals and communities; if an act is wrong there is no negotiation. This version of Utilitarianism focuses on the act itself whereas Act Utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of the act and would provide more grounds for the community to