originator of utilitarianism‚ Jeremy Bentham explains how this moral theory should be used. My argument will be as to why utilitarianism‚ more specifically the Principle of Utility‚ should not be used to decipher the rightness or wrongness of actions in situations. In this essay‚ I will define and explain utilitarianism and Bentham’s spin on the theory‚ argue that this theory cannot be practical in most cases‚ and finally consider why my argument could be seen as fallible. 1. Utilitarianism- The Principle
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Anthony B. Fielding Utilitarian‚ Deontological‚ and Virtue ethics The concept of utilitarianism is closely related to the philosophy of consequentialism. Basically this means that the moral and ethical value of a person’s action should be judged by the consequence of that action. Utilitarianism is believed to be the most important of the three ethical theories because it has helped shape our world’s politics‚ economics‚ and public policy. This ethical theory explains to us that we can
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Utilitarianism states “that an action is morally right if and only if it produces at least as much good (utility) for all people affected by the action as any alternative action the person could do instead.” (Audi 942) One of the branches of utilitarianism is act-utilitarianism‚ and it is also considered by philosophers to be the “traditional utilitarianism.” (Schick 349) The purpose of act-utilitarianism is to follow the action that will maximize happiness for a given populace. Act-utilitarianism
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Singer’s explained that an individual would work day in and out just to satisfy their pleasure and pain. But‚ that is not necessarily the only interest that matters and it is most definitely not the most important interest on Earth. Moreover‚ utilitarianism is a moral theory that says right actions are those that result in the most beneficial balance of good over bad consequences for everyone involved. Therefore‚ if everyone on Earth was to convert to a utilitarian where people must act against their
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struggle from rags to riches in reach of the “American Dream” makes his essays even more authentic and believable in which people could receive a strong opinion towards a social or political issue. One of Franklin’s essays‚ “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker‚” effectively accomplishes this idea of expressing a strong opinion towards a social issue‚ in this case about a woman who gives birth to five bastard children. Polly Baker’s ultimate goal in the essay is to justify her actions towards the court in
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The mysterious‚ independent and cynical Jordan Baker‚ known for lying through her teeth. Jordan has no problem lying especially if it gets her out of trouble. She lies about things she doesn’t even need to lie about‚ for example‚ when her and Nick went to a house party‚ “she left a borrowed car out in the rain with the top down‚ and then lied about it” (Fitzgerald 62). Lying about something as little as leaving a car out in the rain shows in and of itself how dishonest of a person she is. Distinctly
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Rule utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism that says an action is right insofar as it conforms to a rule that leads to the greatest good‚ or that "the rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it is an instance Mill separates pleasure into higher and lower as that he thinks some pleasure like higher is more for the soul and are long term and will benefit you as a person and the lower pleasures which are more material and offer short
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The essay by Russell Baker is astonishing. To write an essay that the writer likes is one thing but‚ to have more than one person like it‚ is an accomplishment. After writing an essay‚ I always disappointed myself when I read over it before it was to be turned in. The writing that I create is not something I like. After I made necessary changes to any essay that I was to write‚ I still didn’t like it very much. When finished with an essay‚ to look back‚ and enjoy what you have written‚ is beyond
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Utilitarianism has no serious weaknesses discuss. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory which looks at the consequences of an act to decide whether it is right or wrong. There are lots of strengths to utilitarianism and not many weaknesses. One of the strengths is that it is a theory which established whether something was good or bad according to the majority of people. Bentham came up with this theory and it is known as the principle of utility. Bentham said ‘Nature has placed mankind under
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“ Giving them the bread and butter of our labors is enough. Your mother is too free with everything it seems.” (page 41) My interpretation of this quote is that the author is showing the readers that sister Cora does not particularly like Avla Jane’s mother. In my book the husbands of the community are supposed to take on multiple wives to have many children. Sister Cora is the first wife and Alva Jane’s mother is the fourth wife. MAny times throughout the story the author has shown the jealousy
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