Legal Theory Utilitarianism: Pros and Cons Random House Dictionary defines utilitarianism as “the ethical doctrine that virtue is based on utility‚ and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of persons. The father of utilitarianism‚ Jeremy Bentham believed that all human beings are motivated by minimizing pain and maximizing pleasure; therefore morality and justice should be determined on those same grounds. Utilitarianism teaches that maximizing
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Mill’s objection to Bentham’s utilitarianism‚ “…no better object of desire and pursuit than pleasure is a doctrine worthy only of swine.” He is basically arguing that Utilitarianism is an ideology that focuses all its efforts on creating the most amount of happiness and pleasure. This unfortunately can lead to a problem. In Utilitarianism‚ Mill argues if we try to live our lives in a way that is free of pain and full of pleasure‚ we forget that life is full of discomfort and that it is how it’s
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certain principles‚ and we must act from morally pure motivations. Deontology is almost the opposite of utilitarianism. The main difference between deontology and utilitarianism is that deontology is concerned with whether an act is inherently good or bad‚ while utilitarianism believes that only the consequences of an action are significant. Deontology deals with purposes and motivations. Utilitarianism
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1. From a utilitarian point of view‚ we could generally say that it is permissible to test on living creatures‚ because by finding a cure for pancreatic cancer we would help a large amount of people‚ while only hurting a few in the research process. According to Singer’s concept of speciesism‚ there is no significant difference between the human and the chimpanzee that we should take into account in making this decision. It doesn’t matter what species you belong to‚ and just because the human belongs
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more than just a man who taught and wrote about psychology. He was also a big time philosopher who played a role in many philosophies. He says that good is never the same‚ without good consciousness does not exist‚ and associates moral good with utilitarianism. To John Dewey‚ good can never happen twice to anyone. The word good has many definitions and the one to be associated with it in philosophy would be the second most used one for good; which is this‚ that which is righteous or morally right.
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In Utilitarianism and Integrity‚ Williams argues that Utilitarianism is fundamentally flawed because it denies individual responsibility and robs people of their moral autonomy. According to Williams‚ because Utilitarianism supports the idea that a person’s actions should be motivated by the desire to gain the most worthy outcome for all parties‚ it does not take into account a person’s individual’s moral code or desires. Instead‚ people are expected to sacrifice their moral integrity for the sake
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the autonomous moral theories of the late modern period. The rejection of belief in God led ultimately to new views of human nature The Postmodern World‚ at the start of 20th century‚ moral philosophy was in crisis. Utilitarianism and Kantianism were on uncertain ground. Utilitarianism claims that we have reason to act for the greatest happiness for the greatest number‚ and we are driven toward our own individual happiness. Kantianism
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Ethics are a complicated subject. Everyone has their own way of thinking of ethics. People are ethical in similar and different ways. Some people may think the same way on subjects‚ like for example that it is ethically wrong to test on animals‚ while others may disagree‚ even on the same topic. There is no clear‚ black and white‚ right or wrong way to look at ethics. One may think people have varying degrees of ethics‚ which is true‚ but not one person really is more ethical than another given the
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“Tyrant‚” should the patient be treated? Deontology clashes with utilitarianism when the patient is being diagnosed for his mysterious illness. For this situation in “Tyrant” a deontologist would say the ethical action would be to treat the patient and not based your decision on what the patient has done or plans to do. It would not be ethical to refuse him treatment or treat him wrong on purpose. Flip the roles to a utilitarianism‚ and they would say the ethical action would be the action that benefits
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“The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.” - Leon Trotsky. This quote closely relates to a philosophy that became popular in Russia in the 1860’s- utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a philosophy defined as the idea of the moral worth of an action is determined only by the contribution to the overall utility‚ the contribution of happiness or pleasure among all people. Meaning‚ the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its outcome. Moral choices
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