Utilitarianism and the Lonesome Stranger Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that believes one should do what will promote the greatest utility for as many people as possible‚ that utility is often considered to be happiness or pleasure. There are different kinds of utilitarian views; hedonistic‚ preference‚ rule‚ and act to name a few‚ but they all have the same main objective. This theory does indeed seem good at first‚ but it is flawed. The case of the lonesome stranger challenges utilitarianism
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created the utilitarianism school of thought‚ which is an incredibly useful ethical position. It can be most effectively defined by Wikipedia‚ "Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility." Utilitarianism has many benefits‚ but those benefits are harmonized with some major flaws. I will discuss the founding fathers of utilitarianism‚ the strengths and weaknesses of act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism‚ other forms
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Frankenstein is nature’s way of saying No Frankenstein is nature’s way of saying no because of the bad things that happen in it. Its warning us that if we do try and clone this is one if the outcomes that could happen. I believe that in the book frankenstein that all the things that went wrong were outcomes that aren’t as bad as what could have been created. If victor would have done one thing different he could have created something different and would have caused a lot more destruction and chaos
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Utilitarian monster is the name given to one or something that gets too much pleasure from an activity such that the pleasure outweighs the suffering that is as a result. So in the end it might seem practical to give what makes the majority happy or what maximises it because that is what matters most. Utilitarian look at the consequences as a result of an action‚ whether something is good or bad is determined by how much happiness it brings. So as long as something brings in much pleasure compared
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I will analyze the ethical theories of Utilitarianism and Deontology and the principles of justice‚ nonmalificence and autonomy. The question persists‚ should the fact that someone has essentially caused their own disease eliminate them from the chance of having a transplant (Williamson‚ 1997)? According to the utilitarian school of thought‚ the right action is that which has the greatest utility or usefulness (Burkhardt & Nathaniel‚ 2014). Utilitarianism is also described as a consequence-based
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chosen Act-Utilitarianism to analyze in this paper. My assertion is that Act-Utilitarianism is not a viable solution to the problem of punishment. I believe this because Act-Utilitarianism‚ while attempting to maximize overall utility‚ often leads to situations where the wrong answers are given to moral questions. This results in Act-Utilitarianism finding justification for punishment in bad moral theories‚ thus invalidating any justification given. While I do not believe that Act-Utilitarianism is an
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Consequentialists are a group of philosophers who asses whether an act is right or wrong based on the consequences of the action. There are different types of consequentialism including: ethical egoism‚ act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism. These three branches of consequentialism will be discussed later in this paper. A supererogatory act is something that is good but is not obligatory; these acts involve rendering aid to others that go above moral requirement. Consequentialists claim that
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The prominant criticism of Utilitarianism is that it is extremely hard to predict the results of an action. The outcomes of all situations are hard to predict‚ so how can we possibly apply the rule of the greatest happiness for the greatest number if we do not know who will benefit most? It is also difficult to decide whether an outcome is morally good or bad. People have contrasting opinions on what they think is right or wrong and it depends on the individual who is making the decision. This causes
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have some key concepts which point to what the good ultimately is: egoism‚ utilitarianism‚ and deontology. Egoism values the desires of the individual the most‚ and this is most important to the individual. Utilitarianism‚ on the other hand‚ needs to be impartial in order to value each individual’s happiness equally. Deontology also conflicts with both of these other theories because it is not consequentialist like utilitarianism‚ and does not always benefit the individual or anyone else involved. The
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Act utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics which states that a person’s act is morally right if and only if it produces the greatest overall utility. In assessing a moral theory there are four adequate criteria which are: completeness‚ explanatory‚ practicability and moral conformation. For completeness‚ an ethical theory should support all meaningful moral claims‚ neglecting none of the claims. Next‚ there is explanatory power. For this assessment a theory should provide insight into what
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