actions from wrong ones. The theory of utilitarianism tries to do the same by incorporating several aspects that set up a moral standard to help investigate the balance between right and wrong. John Stuart Mill‚ a British philosopher of the 1800’s defends the utilitarian school of thought by pointing out what it is that makes utilitarianism the standard theory for morality. According to Utilitarianism as explained by Mill in his essay “In Defense of Utilitarianism” the fundamental principle of morality
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Animal Rights Throughout history morality has been a topic of intense debate. Innumerable thinkers have devoted immense amounts of time and energy to the formulation of various ethical theories intended to assist humans in their daily lives. These theories set out guidelines which help to determine the rightness or wrongness of any given action and can therefore illuminate which choice would be morally beneficial. And while many of these theories differ substantially‚ most have at least one common
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John Stuart Mill’s foundation of Morality and his basis for Utilitarianism are based on the Greatest Happiness Principle. In his essay titled Utilitarianism he states that morality should be governed by pleasure and freedom from unhappiness which are the only alluring ends to this life. Everything in life that is pleasurable is sought after because of the desires they fulfill or how they reduce pain. Early on in the essay he clearly distinguishes between the mental and physical pleasure. Despite
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Utilitarianism and Kant’s respective have different ways for demonstrating whether an act we do is right or wrong. Corresponding to Kant‚ we should look at our maxims‚ intentions‚ of a particular action. Kantians believe “If we are rational‚ we will each agree to curb our self-interest and cooperate with one another” (Shafer-Landau‚ Russ 194). In other words‚ humans are rational beings capable of rational behavior and should not be used purely for self-interest. On the other hand‚ Utilitarian’s believe
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different theorist‚ Jeremy Bentham and Immanuel Kant‚ with regards to their views on moral worth of an action. The idea of good and bad creates heated debates among many‚ but this essay will successfully unravel the layers of Bentham’s theory of Utilitarianism and his belief that all our motives are driven by pleasure and pain. While arguing Kant’s opposing argument that moral worth of an act revolves around democratic attitudes‚ and that moral truths are founded on reasons that is logical to all people
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and a meaningful exercise in self-expression. Others contend that we should vote in pursuit of a democratic ideal‚ and still others argue that we should vote out of respect for those who have defended our rights. As a consequentialist theory‚ utilitarianism is utterly unconcerned with these principle-oriented arguments. Utilitarians are concerned only with maximizing total social utility‚ or the overall well-being of society. Thus‚ utilitarians would assert
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Williams’s is a popular opponent to John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarian rulebook when it comes to an agent’s individuality. Williams believes that Utilitarianism is flawed because it requires agents to compromise their own individual self-concept both emotionally and morally. He thinks this because Utilitarianism says that in order for every series of events to be morally sound by producing the most happiness one may have to disregard their own projects and perform the action that will cause this outcome
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above case‚ we are going to face a dilemma between risking our life to save our colleague or to abandon them in order to save ourselves. This essay will argue that we should abandon our injured colleague and save ourselves base on the concept of utilitarianism‚ which is always choose whatever action or social policy would have the best consequence for everyone concerned‚ self-interest in Mohism and also the uncertainty about consequences in Kantianism. This will be asserted by explaining two main reasons
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Utilitarianism assumes that it would be morally correct for me to employ the water boarding technique on this possibly innocent man if it meant obtaining possible anti-terrorist information that could possibly save thousands of innocent Americans. The ‘greatest good for the greatest number’‚ so they say‚ but is torture really the best way to obtain the best consequence? I will use my take on the Just War model and J.J.C Smarts’ suggestion to focus on all consequences of a situation to argue against
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Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory that aims to maximize total societal utility. Consequently‚ in determining whether or not there is a moral duty to vote‚ utilitarians would factor in everyone interests — this includes those ineligible to vote‚ noncitizens‚ and future people — to arrive at the total utility calculation. Two types of utilitarians exist. 1) Act utilitarians‚ who act to maximize total social utility‚ and 2) Rule utilitarians‚ who advocate acting according to rules that
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