The Lifeboat Case and Utilitarianism Imagine that four men are placed in a life or death situation. They are stranded in a boat in the middle of the ocean with nothing to eat for nourishment. In a severely weakened state‚ the men decide that for the benefit of the majority they will draw lots and eat whoever draws the shortest; one of the men refuses to draw. The next day‚ in spite of the lottery‚ the youngest boy is killed and fed on by the other men. The argument proposed to justify their actions
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Pros and Cons of Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a philosophy in which the ends justify the means‚ or in which the morality of an action is determined by the function that follows the action. Although Utilitarianism has many good principals that are both logical and appealing‚ the contradictions of the philosophy make it incompatible with Christian ethics. The moral standards that utilitarianism is supposedly based on only work when a person doesn’t consider the personal emotions that might
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John Rawls and Utilitarianism Heath C. Hoculock The social contract theory of John Rawls challenges utilitarianism by pointing out the impracticality of the theory. Mainly‚ in a society of utilitarians‚ a citizens rights could be completely ignored if injustice to this one citizen would benefit the rest of society. Rawls believes that a social contract theory‚ similar those proposed by Hobbes‚ Locke‚ and Rousseau‚ would be a more logical solution to the question of fairness in any government
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Utilitarianism & Stockholder Theory There are many theories when it comes to business ethics and what approaches to take. Two of these leading theories today are Stakeholder Theory and Stockholder Theory. But how does a business executive decide which theory to use when approaching business ethics? This could be determined by the choice of ethical decision-making model by the individual executive. In this essay‚ I will attempt to provide a basis for which a utilitarian thinking business executive
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Peter Singer asserts that utilitarianism implies a moral obligation to be a vegetarian. Utilitarianism holds that the right actions‚ or what we ought to do‚ are those actions that are expected to produce the best overall consequences‚ provide maximum utility‚ happiness or pleasure and minimize pain and suffering. Utilitarians look at the probable consequences of choices and choose their actions based on whatever they believe will produce the most utility or pleasure. Singer claims that if one is
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Jeremy Bentham’s Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is one of the most powerful and persuasive approaches to normative ethics in the history of philosophy. Though not fully articulated until the 19th century‚ proto-utilitarian positions can be discerned throughout the history of ethical theory. Though there are many varieties of the view discussed‚ utilitarianism is generally held to be the view that the morally right action is the action that produces the most good. There are
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Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that advocates doing… Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that advocates doing what is morally right and what makes the greatest number of people happy‚ or what brings the greatest amount of pleasure and the least amount of pain for the most people. The theory assumes that an action is morally justifiable if it increases the overall happiness of the greatest number of beings. To determine if an action is right‚ it is necessary to calculate the amount of pleasure
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sympathy to other people. We also have our own interest. We want to pursue our goals and achieve our personal gain. Our self-interest drives us to form the free market. We buy things we want likewise produce and sell goods to have money to buy. We benefit each other in the means of economic activities making the public interest to promote yet we do not intend to. Adam Smith coined the term “Invisible Hands” to this. Moreover‚ we have the freedom to choose and reject the things we want. We are free
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There is only one reason that human history is filled with violence and controversy. This is because people were inherently evil. Machiavelli’s view of humanity is of a society full of selfish individuals who would choose success for themselves over the success of someone they love. His society however‚ was much different from the society we live in today. In his era‚ most regions were rule by single individuals or family lines which used cruelty and fear to keep their people in line. In our current
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Utilitarianism‚ in its most basic form‚ upholds actions resulting in ends that allow for greatest good for the greatest amount of people‚ and ensures that pleasure is maximized and pain is minimized. Sovereign forces of pleasure and pain drive one’s everyday actions and justify said actions (Bentham‚ 1789). Raskolnikov’s methodical evaluation of the moral dilemma presented to him exemplifies an intrinsic understanding of utilitarianism. Raskolnikov employs the fundamentals
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