Anthony B. Fielding Utilitarian‚ Deontological‚ and Virtue ethics The concept of utilitarianism is closely related to the philosophy of consequentialism. Basically this means that the moral and ethical value of a person’s action should be judged by the consequence of that action. Utilitarianism is believed to be the most important of the three ethical theories because it has helped shape our world’s politics‚ economics‚ and public policy. This ethical theory explains to us that we can
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Utilitarianism states “that an action is morally right if and only if it produces at least as much good (utility) for all people affected by the action as any alternative action the person could do instead.” (Audi 942) One of the branches of utilitarianism is act-utilitarianism‚ and it is also considered by philosophers to be the “traditional utilitarianism.” (Schick 349) The purpose of act-utilitarianism is to follow the action that will maximize happiness for a given populace. Act-utilitarianism
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Singer’s explained that an individual would work day in and out just to satisfy their pleasure and pain. But‚ that is not necessarily the only interest that matters and it is most definitely not the most important interest on Earth. Moreover‚ utilitarianism is a moral theory that says right actions are those that result in the most beneficial balance of good over bad consequences for everyone involved. Therefore‚ if everyone on Earth was to convert to a utilitarian where people must act against their
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Consequentialism and Utilitarianism Consequentialism‚ as its name suggests‚ is the view that normative properties depend only on consequences. This general approach can be applied at different levels to different normative properties of different kinds of things‚ but the most prominent example is consequentialism about the moral rightness of acts‚ which holds that whether an act is morally right depends only on the consequences of that act or of something related to that act‚ such as the motive
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Animal Experimentation: Unethical According to Utilitarianism Introduction: One of the most debated ethical issues is Animal Rights. Animals are so much a part of our lives and world that it is impossible to ignore the ethical issues we are faced with pertaining to the treatment of animals. What is difficult about these issues is that although animals have many similar attributes as humans they lack the developed brain function that humans have. Although many animals can feel pain‚ experience
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Rui Chaves The Schiavos‚ Rule Utilitarianism‚ and Kantian Ethics The case of “The Schiavos” is focused primarily on one member of the family‚ which is Terri Schiavo. Terri had been in a coma for 13 years. Although‚ “no one is completely sure what happened but the best guess is she suffered a heart attack” (Pierce‚ 64) presumably caused by her bulimia. Due to the severity of her heart attack‚ it left Terri with severe brain damaged which in turn left her in a persistent vegetative state which leaves
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According to Mill (1848) and White (n.d.)‚ utilitarianism is a Greatest Happiness Principle. It focuses on both long term and short term consequences of the behavior and the potential happinesses and pains that can generate by that behavior. Motives cannot determine the right or wrong of that behavior. If the behavior will cause harm to society or others‚ even the motives are noble‚ that behavior should not be done. The final decision should generate the greatest happiness for the greatest number
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1) Compare and contrast utilitarianism versus universalism. Utilitarianism comprises of two types of criteria which is rule based and act based. Rule-based utilitarianism argues that general principles are used as criteria for deciding the greatest benefit to be achieved from acting in a certain way. Act based utilitarians on the other hand analyze a particular action or behavior to determine whether the greatest utility or good can be achieved. Utilitarianism also includes the following tenets
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Utilitarianism has no serious weaknesses discuss. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory which looks at the consequences of an act to decide whether it is right or wrong. There are lots of strengths to utilitarianism and not many weaknesses. One of the strengths is that it is a theory which established whether something was good or bad according to the majority of people. Bentham came up with this theory and it is known as the principle of utility. Bentham said ‘Nature has placed mankind under
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Utilitarianism is the disagreement that a man should judge everything based off of humans happiness. Whether telling a lie will bring one feelings of hurt or of happiness. As Utilitarianism proposes that doing “good” such as: feeding the homeless or giving charity‚ something that benefits someone besides them-self‚ is what brings most happiness to most people. The rule of mill is based off of the decisions we make. The only thing that is important‚ Mill proposes‚ is good deed. Mill states we should
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