Libertarianism‚ Utilitarianism‚ Marxism‚ and the Capabilities Approach. Utilitarianism is the belief of maximizing good for the greatest amount of people (Almgren‚ 2012‚ p. 8). An example of this is taxes that are levied in order to build community infrastructures. This theory is extremely useful as it focuses on the happiness and benefits of citizens. However‚ after reading Madison Powers and Ruth Faden’s Essential Dimensions of Well-being‚ I came to realize that utilitarianism‚ by default‚ does
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John Stuart Mill begins his argument for utilitarianism by convincing us that‚ without a measure for determining moral value‚ we cannot accurately hold ourselves responsible as our own moral agents. In response to this concern‚ he outlines a moral code based on the principle of utility. As a promoter of the highest presence of pleasure and lowest presence of pain‚ Mill continues on to argue that the ultimate end is happiness‚ with all other actions and intentions having value only so far as being
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Utilitarianism is concerned about the results of an action‚ while Kantian ethics is focused about the moral duties‚ Virtue ethics on the other hand place an emphasis on the development of a good moral character. Unlike the first two ethical theories‚ virtue ethics is not a theory about what makes an action right. It answers the question‚ “What kind of individual should I be?” and “What kind of characters are necessary to live a virtuous life? Virtue ethics can be tracked back from the ancient Greek
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Utilitarianism‚ pleasure (high and low)‚ justice are the keywords that need addressing on so as to understand what Mill’s ideology is like. In this paper I will attempt to establish a link between these key terms‚ which are utilitarianism‚ pleasure‚ and justice through which one can get a better understanding of Mill’s theory. In the very first line of chapter two‚ Mills tried to differentiate between utilitarianism and pleasure‚ “A PASSING remark is all that needs be given to the ignorant blunder
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Mill’s Utilitarianism: Sacrifice the Innocent For The Common Good? When faced with a moral dilemma‚ utilitarianism identifies the appropriate considerations‚ but offers no realistic way to gather the necessary information to make the required calculations. This lack of information is a problem both in evaluating the welfare issues and in evaluating the consequentialist issues which utilitarianism requires be weighed when making moral decisions. Utilitarianism attempts to solve both of these
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Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority. It is the doctrine that states an action is right insofar as it promotes happiness‚ and that the greatest happiness of the greatest amount of people should be the guiding principle of conduct. Aside from selecting the action that results in the greatest amount of happiness‚ utilitarians also think about the consequences each of their actions or situations would provide. They
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Explain the main principles of the classical forms of Utilitarianism (25 Marks) Utilitarianism was first created by Jeremy Bentham‚ he believed that human beings were motivated by pleasure and pain so he can be called a hedonist. Bentham said that all human beings pursued pleasure and wanted to avoid pain. As a hedonist‚ he believed that pleasure was the sole good and pain was the sole evil. He said ‘an action is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number’ this is where the greatest
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Both utilitarianism and virtue ethics have their individual strengths and weaknesses regarding moral situations. In this essay‚ I will proceed to first summarize the core concepts of both utilitarianism and virtue ethics. Then‚ I will introduce a scenario that will be used to compare the two ethical frameworks side by side based on what decision they would entail. Finally‚ I will argue that virtue ethics is morally better than utilitarianism‚ even if the outcomes of utilitarianism seem to be more
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Utilitarianism is a consequentialist ethical theory and therefore when evaluating ethics and the environment they would look at the end result and not necessarily the action. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory and would look at the purpose or the end goal of an action. With regards to deforestation the end goal is to create space for new homes‚ particularly in Brazil and therefore according to utilitarianism this is ethical because it brings great pleasure to those who are provided with homes
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Utilitarianism is one of the widest known theory of morals. It asserts that whether an action is wrong or right will depend on the overall effects. To determine the moral worth of any given action‚ the happiness/satisfaction that it brings should be weighed against the unhappiness/negative consequences associated with it. If the overall positive consequences are more‚ then the action is considered morally right. If the negative consequences of the action are more then‚ the action is morally wrong
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