The philosophical theory that I choose to do is called “utilitarianism”. In a brief sentence‚ utilitarianism means the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Basically what this means is‚ doing the right thing is based on how many people your action benefits rather than how much it benefits you. According to the Oxford American Dictionary utility means “the state of being useful‚ profitable‚ or beneficial”(oxford dictionary‚2013). The whole theory is all about how much it benefits and
Free Utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill
Psychological egoism is the theory that voluntary actions are always motivated by a reward to oneself‚ whether directly or indirectly. Some people immediately object to the theory because there are plenty of cases where people help others when there seems to be no reward. A proponent of psychological egoism would stress that there seems to be no reward‚ and that the person is in fact benefiting in some way. In many cases‚ the proponent of psychological egoism would offer that the "good feeling"
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March 26‚ 2013 Word Count = 1115 In the beginning of Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill states that throughout history very little progress has been made towards developing a set of moral standards to judge what is morally right or wrong. Although a certain disagreement about such foundations can also be found in the most “certain” sciences‚ in those areas truths can still have meaning without understanding the principles underlying them. On the other hand‚ in philosophy‚ where all actions exist
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In philosophy‚ egoism is the theory that one’s self is‚ or should be‚ the motivation and the goal of one’s own action. Egoism has two variants‚ descriptive or normative. The descriptive (or positive) variant conceives egoism as a factual description of human affairs. That is‚ people are motivated by their own interests and desires‚ and they cannot be described otherwise. The normative variant proposes that people should be so motivated‚ regardless of what presently motivates their behavior. Altruism
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able to financially support your family. Most people would agree that lying or torturing someone is wrong. However‚ some may argue that if you are helping more people than you are hurting‚ then it is okay to lie to or torture someone. Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that the action you choose to perform should result in “the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people” (MacKinnon and Fiala). It is a form of consequentialism that focuses on the consequences of actions that
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Utilitarianism derives itself from a combination of hedonism and consequentialism. Hedonism suggests that consequences are good as long as they lead to pleasure‚ which is the ultimate good in the case of utilitarianism. On the other hand‚ consequentialism argues that the right action is the one that produces the best consequences‚ and maximizes utility. Mill argues that the only factor relevant to actions is the amount of pleasure or pain produced‚ not the motives that propel action. Utilitarianism
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Jeremy Bentham was a British philosopher‚ jurist‚ and social reformer. He is regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism. Bentham sees that man is being governed by two feelings‚ this is pleasure and pain. These determine that which is good and evil for man. These are also the basis of the act of man‚ and these-pain and pleasure would be the fundamentals of the philosophy‚ utilitarianism. The principle of utility "is the action that approves or disapproves an action whatsoever". By the principle
Free Utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham Animal rights
This essay certainly made your stance on the questions asked known. I appreciated the quick reference to utilitarianism and Kantianism when tackling the first question‚ however‚ some further expansion was definitely needed. In the laborer’s example‚ it is important to know that such strict personal accountability would not work in White-Collar jobs. It is standard for White-Collar workers to be indemnified by their company for any problems that may arise while performing within the capacity of their
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The idea of utilitarianism classifies actions of being "morally" right or wrong solely based on the results and outcomes of the actions. This paper will analyze the problem that Arthur‚ "the art dealer"‚ faces with artwork pieces he stumbles upon. Arthur’s predicament is that he is given an opportunity to buy looted artworks. His dilemma is to either purchase or to not purchase the art work. This paper will evaluate the two analysis views of a utilitarian: act (extreme) and rule (restricted). First
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Utilitarianism depends on the happiness of people and by happiness I mean pleasure. When a person experiences pleasure they usually experience pain along with it in some form‚ or the pain is caused to somebody else. Pleasure is not the only thing that utilitarianism depends on. Along with pleasure it depends on the amount of pleasure‚ how great the pleasure is‚ and more things that are along the lines often pleasure the consequences of an action has as an outcome. Despite the action or decision there
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