The theory behind utilitarianism is that one’s actions are right if it promotes happiness or pleasure and wrong if it does not promote happiness or pleasure. The main point to this theory is the principle of utility that states “according to which actions should be chosen that bring about the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.” (Palmer) Jeremy Bentham gave essentially utilitarianism its name and brought more attention to it than those before him. Bentham came up with
Premium John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham
The Argument for Utilitarianism Among the ethical arguments that we have seen‚ it is clear that a form of utilitarianism is the best option‚ that is‚ we should always do what brings about the best outcome where the outcomes are rated by the amount of good they bring about. The utilitarian argument says that in any given decision‚ the option that brings about the most good is the right thing to do every time. That being said‚ the definition of good is extremely important to the soundness of the
Premium Utilitarianism Ethics Morality
John Stuart Mills‚ in his paper Utilitarianism proposed the philosophy is "not something to be contradistinguished from pleasure‚ but pleasure itself‚ together with exemption from pain; and instead of opposing the useful to the agreeable or the ornamental..." However‚ Dickens did not find this harmony to be a possible outcome of the rigidity of logic‚ but found the imagination to be a more fertile ground for producing happiness. Dickens wrote of utilitarianism as it was applied during British industrialization
Premium Utilitarianism Ethics John Stuart Mill
Retributivism and Utilitarianism. Retributivism is a theory of criminal justice that advocates punishment to be the best response and consequence in retribution for what criminals have inflicted. It is also the first theory answering the reason why we established punishment institutions. Since in retributivism‚ it is justified to punish people when and only when they deserve to be punished‚ which is can be summed up as “an eye for an eye‚ a tooth for a tooth” from the
Premium Sociology Criminal justice Punishment
Utilitarianism: A thought investigation into the strive for equality. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist philosophy‚ where motives and actions are disregarded and only the end result is accounted for (Rachels 2009). Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that is based on the idea that the proper course of action is the one that maximises the quantified ‘utility’. Utility is the unit of measurement that to describes the benefit individuals can gain from an action. Utilitarianism argues
Premium Utilitarianism Ethics John Stuart Mill
P. 378-390. Notes on the Ethical Theories Kant and His Theories Immanuel Kant (notice that he lived in the 1700’s and people likely had different views back then)‚ a philosopher‚ believes that using reason‚ one can make a list of ethical actions. Kant says that one must generalize the certain action he is about to do to see if it is reasonable. For example‚ you ask yourself “should I cut the line in the cafeteria?” The way you can answer this question is by asking yourself “What if everyone
Premium Immanuel Kant Philosophy Morality
The Philosophy of Utilitarianism may have a positive outcome‚ but it can be flawed at times as well. The Utilitarian theory states “ The greatest happiness for the greatest number of people”. Some say this approach is flawed due to it lacking reason and consequence‚ I believe this depends on specific circumstances. Abortion is a big issue now a days and I feel that the utilitarian theory would be a reasonable outlook on this particular situation. To apply the Utilitarian theory to abortion‚ first
Premium Pregnancy Utilitarianism Abortion
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
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
Premium Morality Utilitarianism Ethics
health and illnesses‚ like the day and the night these happenings are inherent in everyone’s life cycle. It is silver lining that there are noble people who work all their lives to mitigate the sufferings of the others. Among them‚ the profession of medicine is perhaps most respected for their service to society. My desire to become a doctor dates back to when I was in Preparatory School. Although as a young child‚ I did not quite understand what doctors essentially do. My desire heightened by the
Premium Suffering Personal life Medicine