To begin an exploration in ethical philosophy and build a foundational knowledge and understanding of how such thinking has evolved and progressed in humans over time‚ one must look to possibly one of the most influential approaches to ethics in history: Utilitarianism (Driver). In order to understand what Utilitarianism is and how this system of thought developed and can be applied in society‚ one must look back to the writings of thinkers who began to discover a clearer definition of the concept
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Utilitarianism is a teleological theory in normative ethics‚ this essentially means that the theory is one in which looks at the consequences of an action to determine if it is right or wrong. The theory of Utilitarianism mainly derives from the concept of utility which in this context is defined as something which is beneficial or conducive to the well-being of the maximum number. There are two main scholars of Utilitarianism‚ one of which is Jeremy Bentham and who is regarded as the founder of
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CULTURAL RELATIVISM The idea of cultural relativism started from the society. From the society it turns out to be a symbol of that particular area and become mass/universal. According to Rachel (p.18) says " These customs cannot be said to be "correct" or incorrect‚ "for that implies that we have an independent standard of right and wrong by which they may judge". In a simple word cultural relativism is there is no answer for what is right and what is wrong‚ to judge this issue we have to know
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Utilitarianism states “Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness‚ wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (pg. 863). What this means is that actions are right when the majority of people benefits from it. This principle is assessed based on the consequences of the action‚ rather than the action itself. Therefore‚ utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism. If the outcome comes out positive and is useful for majority of the people‚ it is considered morally
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The moral debate of relativism versus objectivism is one that confronts a moral question that philosophers have been debating for many years. The ultimate question brought about in the debate is whether morality is based solely on individual choice and cultural approval‚ or are there universally valid moral principles. With this essay I will present the arguments for each view and I will also argue for the position I favor: moral objectivism. Relativism is the view that states that moral principles
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Utilitarianism. “The principle of utility as outlined by John Stuart Mill is that one is obligated morally to produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people “ (Bluffton College).in other worlds you have to weight your action and its effects on society as a hole. It is your moral duty to optimize every situation. It could contain human sacrifice (sacrificing one person for the survival of 2 people) by determining that such an action will optimize utility in the situation; this will make
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two perfect examples of real life accounts of the problems that they face in the field‚ and it is found that in order for anthropologists to be able to truly study a certain culture‚ they must understand the meanings of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. Ethnocentrism must be understood so that it can be avoided‚ because it is the belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group‚ which could ultimately make it very difficult to truly study and learn about a culture if you are constantly
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“What is Utilitarianism?” Ask a passerby to describe his personal morality‚ and you’ll likely get a complicated explanation filled with ifs‚ ands‚ and buts. Ask a utilitarian‚ and he can give a six-word response: greatest good for the greatest number. Of course‚ utilitarianism is not that simple. Like any philosophical system‚ it is the subject of endless debate. Still‚ for the average reader who is unfamiliar with the jargon that characterizes most philosophy‚ utilitarianism can be a useful tool
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Utilitarianism: For and Against Many people have heard of the word utilitarianism‚ but don’t exactly know what utilitarianism means or what it is. After reading about utilitarianism in this paper‚ you will have a perfect understanding of utilitarianism and be able to teach others about it. To start off‚ I will give a detailed description of utilitarianism as a whole and will then move into explaining the development of utilitarianism from Jeremy Bentham to John Stuart Mill. I will also be stating
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approach the studies of cultures using Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism. The definition of these terms is very different in many ways when describing cultures. Cultural Relativism is defined as the perspective that any aspect of a culture must be viewed and evaluated within the context of that culture. While‚ ethnocentrism‚ is defined as making value judgments based on one’s own culture when describing aspects of another culture. Cultural relativism is much more commonly used by anthropologist
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