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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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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On this topic of gay marriage I’ve chosen the two ethical theories of utilitarianism and the Kantian ethics theory. On the pro side the utilitarianism theory plays a huge role when referring to this topic. Some may argue that it is constitutional and some may say that it just isn’t the right thing to do in this country. With this theory the actions are said to be judged in terms of promotion of human happiness. If someone is happy why it should matter what the law or government thinks. It’s important
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objection to Bentham’s utilitarianism‚ “…no better object of desire and pursuit than pleasure is a doctrine worthy only of swine.” He is basically arguing that Utilitarianism is an ideology that focuses all its efforts on creating the most amount of happiness and pleasure. This unfortunately can lead to a problem. In Utilitarianism‚ Mill argues if we try to live our lives in a way that is free of pain and full of pleasure‚ we forget that life is full of discomfort and that it is how it’s supposed to
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Mill’s ethical theory of Utilitarianism. Mill held two theories on utilitarianism‚ a normative and a psychological one. Normative views of Mills’ include his "principle of utility" which says actions are right if they produce the greatest amount of happiness and pleasure and wrong if they cause displeasure and pain. His psychological theory says people want to live in harmony with their fellow man and that they have a basic sensitivity to the needs of others. Utilitarianism is interested in promoting
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government and free from externalities like taxation. Nevertheless‚ minorities like the poor are left behind for they have no or insufficient money to buy their necessities and wants especially if there is competition or high equilibrium price. Hence‚ the more you work‚ the more you will have. Vices like dishonesty‚ selfishness‚ greed‚ violence‚ etc. must be considered in one’s motive. Furthermore‚ there are many things that differentiates Adam Smith’s notion of justice from the utilitarian notion
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opinions. The debate is by no means new‚ however‚ in my opinion‚ the death penalty is cruel and inhumane. During biblical time‚ capital punishment has been an issue. In writing this paper‚ I intend to argue the topic from a utliitarian point of view using Rawls Priciple of Justice. Utilitarianism revolves around the concept of “the end justifies the means.” It believes that theoutcomes as a result of an action have a greater value compared to the latter. It also states that the most ethical thing to do
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The overall argument presented in Chapters 3 and 4 in Mills Utilitarianism was that one must adopt one single standard of ethics and that is what defines the morality of the individual. However‚ I believe that this is an unreasonable ideology as it is highly unlikely that anyone would simply chose one standard of ethics and follow this for the entirety of their life without changing their beliefs. I respectfully disagree with Mills idea that somebody has to adopt one single standard of ethics
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and can therefore illuminate which choice would be morally beneficial. And while many of these theories differ substantially‚ most have at least one common underlying principle‚ namely that humans deserve to be treated with a certain level of respect. This idea comes from the belief that all humans have interests which are significant enough to be considered‚ hence no one should impede another from fulfilling their own individual interests. Yet recently a new controversy has emerged at the forefront
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Explain Benthams Utiliarianism (30 marks) The theory of utilitarianism was put forward entierly by Jeremy Bentham‚ who wrote about Ethics and Politics. He was a social reformer keen to improve the lives of the working class. Many of the improvements made in the treatments of criminals in the 18th and 19th centuries were the results of Benthems ethics. Bentham believed that which is good is that which equals the greatest sum of pleasure and the least sum of pain. (Hedonism)
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