Consequentialists are a group of philosophers who asses whether an act is right or wrong based on the consequences of the action. There are different types of consequentialism including: ethical egoism‚ act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism. These three branches of consequentialism will be discussed later in this paper. A supererogatory act is something that is good but is not obligatory; these acts involve rendering aid to others that go above moral requirement. Consequentialists claim that
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Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that holds‚ that an action is right if it produces‚ or if it tends to produce‚ the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people affected by the action‚ otherwise the action is wrong" (DeGeorge‚ 44). The utilitarian approach assesses each action separately and the effects that arise from it. Act utilitarianism‚ the most common form used in many circumstances‚ looks at the consequences of each individual act and calculate utility each time the act
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It takes into account a kind of cost-benefit analysis that incorporates the immense amount of people in society and tries to maximize the Greatest Happiness Principle. This principle “holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness‚ wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (Mill‚ pg.7). This shows utilitarian’s hope to create an excelling society by including the satisfaction for the largest
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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 may
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first understand what stance a utilitarian takes on justice in this circumstance. The first thing that must be recognized is the fact that there are two types of utilitarianism in instances concerning overall justice. Julia Driver mentions this in her book Ethics: The Fundamentals. Driver posits that there is a difference between act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism (Driver 64). Act-utilitarianism deals more with what classical utilitarianism believes. It follows the belief that one should choose
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Utilitarianism and Aristotelian Ethics John Stuart Mill and Aristotle are two of the most notable philosophers in history to date. Between Mill’s Utilitarianism and Aristotle’s virtue ethics you can see a large portion our cultures ethics today. Their philosophies are apparent in contemporary everyday life. Aristotle has written several pieces on virtue and friendship. The two most notable works being the Magna Moralia and the Eudemian Ethics. However‚ his Nicomachean Ethics were by far the
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Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory‚ which means that it judges the morality of an action based on the consequences that follow from it rather than on external moral duties. Philosophers who adhere to utilitarianism regard the maximisation of utility as the key determent for understanding whether an action is right or not . In this essay I will argue that the amount of utility produces by an action is not an ideal way of determining its morality. This will be done by firstly clarifying the
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ethical dilemma within utilitarianism because it leads ethical decisions to be made through utility calculations. This calculation differs between people and groups making morality subjective within this framework. A better alternative framework for an economist is a focus on a market based economy where truth is inherent. Utilitarianism also limits liberty and makes it plausible for mass killings
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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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Pros and Cons of Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a philosophy in which the ends justify the means‚ or in which the morality of an action is determined by the function that follows the action. Although Utilitarianism has many good principals that are both logical and appealing‚ the contradictions of the philosophy make it incompatible with Christian ethics. The moral standards that utilitarianism is supposedly based on only work when a person doesn’t consider the personal emotions that might
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