The basic moral principle of utilitarianism is called the principle of utility or the greatest happiness principle. As John Stuart Mill explained it “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness‚ wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism. It focuses on the consequences of action. Utilitarian believe that pleasure or happiness is the good to be produced. As Bentham put it “Nature has placed mankind under the governance
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common criticism of utilitarianism can be reduced simply to: "I don’t like it" or "It doesn’t suit my way of thinking". For an example of this‚ here’s something from someone who might prefer to remain nameless. "Producing the greatest good for the greatest number is fine as long as you are not hurting someone you really love in the process. For instance‚ with the trolley situation‚ I would rather kill 5 people on the main track than m mother on the spur track. Utilitarianism runs into problems
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Confucianism and Utilitarianism Comparing and contrasting these two ethical theories was quite difficult at times‚ mainly because they tend to be so contrasting that the two seem completely unalike. Especially when the two share a time difference of a couple millenniums from when they were created. This makes it quite easy to locate differences between the two‚ but for a quality paper that accounts for about only half of what to write. It took some time and extensive research to find what these two
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1) “Repeal of the Corn Laws is perhaps better seen as the victory of the masses over the agricultural oligarchy (oligarchy: power resting with a small number of people).” How does this extract present and validate this statement? 1) The Corn Laws was a system which placed tariffs and quotas on imported goods flowing into Britain. Britain wanted to achieve self-sufficiency and did not want to be dependent on imports‚ which is why the Corn Laws were imposed. These laws only took into account the interests
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Sissy Jupe‚ "Girl #20"‚ is not accepted in his classroom because she is the direct opposition to what he believes is important in life. She represents the Romantic principles of creativity‚ imagination‚ and a strong sense of self. Mr. Gradgrind views her as one of his losses because she won’t conform to what he believes is socially acceptable. She admits that she would decorate her room with representations of flowers because she is "fond" of them. He sees her ideas as illogical but her connection
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Utilitarianism was first developed by Jeremy Bentham‚ a philosopher and legal theorist of the 18th century. Bentham argued that one should maximise happiness for the majority (‘the greatest good for the greatest number‚ a view which is known as the ‘Utility Principle’. Happiness was equated with moral goodness. This idea further identifies Bentham as a ‘psychological hedonist’‚ since he regarded humans as being primarily motivated by pleasure and the avoidance of pain. A contented society would be
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Sarah smith 10/8/2013 Deontology and Utilitarianism There are two types of Deontology the first one is‚ one should act based on duty‚ and the second one is action should be based on the right intention and nothing else. Utilitarianism is when you have to think about the majority of the people no matter what the consequences is. It is based on maximizing happiness for everyone involved. I would favor Deontology because I think you should do your duty and only do what is right. If you have the
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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 and deontology are two moral theories that can often pull us in different direction. Utilitarianism is the ethical doctrine that virtue is based on utility‚ and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of persons. This can be viewed as a contingent right. Contingent means something that could happen or come up depending on other occurrences. An example of a contingent right is the unexpected need for a bandage on a hike. The bandage
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There are obvious problems with both Act and Rule Utilitarianism. Both theories share the common goal of achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people. However‚ it is impossible to measure or compare happiness‚ as one persons happiness may not necessarily be another’s. And how do we measure intangible gain‚ such as happiness against material gain‚ such as money? The root principle is a good concept‚ but it’s the means to which we arrive at the end that cause the problems. In
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