Assess the merits of Utilitarianism (24 Marks) Utilitarianism is a theory aimed at defining one simple basis that can be applied when making any ethical decision. It is based on a human’s natural instinct to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Jeremy Bentham is widely regarded as the father of utilitarianism. He was born in 1748 into a family of lawyers and was himself‚ training to join the profession. During this process however‚ he became disillusioned by the state British law was in and set out
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Explain the main strengths of Mill’s Utilitarianism. (25) Mill argues that the pleasures of the mind should take precedence over physical pleasure and that once basic human requirements are fulfilled the primary moral concerns should be for higher order goods. Mill rejected Bentham’s Hedonic calculus because he believed that other values were needed to be taken into consideration when measuring people’s happiness like freedom and emotions. Seeing as Mill succeeded Bentham as a famous utilitarian
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or that what someone does with their life is of “no concern to me”. So in the wake of this discussion I decided to compare and contrast how a utilitarian and a Kantian might approach or type of moral conclusion they may have of prostitution. Utilitarianism as most know view that in order to determining what we should do‚ we must consider what specific act would produce the best overall consequences. They view the ethical goal is to lead is a life rich in pleasure or happiness both in point of quantity
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number of people. Negative utilitarianism (NU) requires us to promote the least amount of evil or harm‚ or to prevent the greatest amount of suffering for the greatest number. Proponents like Karl Popper‚ Christoph Fehige and Clark Wolf argue that this is a more effective ethical formula‚ since‚ they contend‚ the greatest harms are more consequential than the greatest goods. Karl Popper also referred to an epistemological argument: “It adds to clarity in the fields of ethics‚ if we formulate our demands
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Examine the key features of utilitarianism (21) The theory of Utilitarianism is based on the concept of utility‚ a theory of usefulness. Utilitarianism is a system of morality that generates us with what the most useful thing to do in different situations and outcomes. Different Utilitarian approaches to morality have emerged each with their own theory of good and community of concerning individuals. Featuring the main influential contributors to this theory are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
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Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad. It all depends upon the consequences of that particular act of cheating. One of them is “Rule Utilitarianism”‚ an action is right if it confirms to a rule when adopted‚ and then produces more overall happiness. The other kind of utilitarianism is called “Act Utilitarianism‚” an action is right if it produces overall happiness in a given situation. To an extent it’s a pretty simple ethical theory‚ it can be very complex because it needs
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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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freedom. This shows that love can be impractical as it may not take into account justice alongside love. However‚ Joseph Fletcher who devised situation ethics used a working principle which stated ‘Love and Justice are the same‚ for justice is love distributed nothing else. In this case of the rapist being punished‚ there would still be justice. However‚ it would be served with love. Therefore‚ the conclusion
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I believe Kant would agree with this because a person who offers their seat for an elderly person has good intentions and is doing something good for someone else and isn’t using them for a personal need. The theory of utilitarianism here applies when that person gives up their seat. It is for the greater good to all people. He or she is passing on the good act of offering a seat to an elderly person which in turn my result in more acts of the same kindness. It is for the
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There is only one reason that human history is filled with violence and controversy. This is because people were inherently evil. Machiavelli’s view of humanity is of a society full of selfish individuals who would choose success for themselves over the success of someone they love. His society however‚ was much different from the society we live in today. In his era‚ most regions were rule by single individuals or family lines which used cruelty and fear to keep their people in line. In our current
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