Moral Theories Can Help Justify The Decisions That Are Made

Utilitarianism, in the contrary, is based on the principle of utility or usefulness. Utility is what encourages an agent to act in a particular way (Tuckett, 1998). Utility can be explained as maximizing the good like pleasure and happiness and minimizing the bad like pain and evil, all leading to the greater good for all parties involved. It weights the consequences of the actions equally between the ones involved, and the ethical solution would be to follow the greater good for most if not all the parties involved.

Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics supporting the idea that the morally correct course of action is the one that maximizes utility, usually defined as maximizing totally benefit and minimizing suffering. By ‘utility’ in this sense we mean ‘happiness’ or ‘pleasure, or similar. Although there are many varieties,

In today 's society, we face many obstacles in our attempt to achieve the feeling of happiness. As intelligent beings, we try to solve these problems by taking the path that best benefits us. The theory of utilitarianism provides a solution to this but at what cost? What are the benefits and disadvantages of utilitarianism? Is utilitarianism an idea one should live by? What is utilitarianism? I plan on answering these questions within this paper and understand how they relate to everyday life. I will also look at arguments for and against utilitarianism. Then analyze the appealing and unappealing features to determine if utilitarianism should be followed as an absolute rule.

Classical utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory which holds that an action can only be considered as morally right where its consequences bring about the greatest amount of good to the greatest number (where 'good' is equal to pleasure minus pain). Likewise, an action is morally wrong where it fails to maximise good. Since it was first articulated in the late 19th Century by the likes of Jeremy Bentham and later John Stewart Mill, the classical approach to utilitarianism has since become the basis for many other consequentialist theories such as rule-utilitarianism and act-utilitarianism upon which this essay will focus (Driver, 2009). Though birthed from the same

Utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory that holds the morally right course of action in any given situation is the course of which yields the greatest balance of benefits over harms. More specifically, utilitarianism’s core idea is that the effects of an action determine whether actions are morally right or wrong. Created with the philosophies of Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806–1873), Utilitarianism began in England in the 19th Century. Bentham and Mill built their system of Utilitarianism on ancient hedonism (pursuing physical pleasure and avoiding physical pain). Although both of these philosophers agreed on the basic principals of Utilitarianism they disagreed on what exactly hedonism is.

Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that an action’s right or wrong depends on the outcome or consequences of it. Utilitarians believe that the main point of the theory is that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce reverse of happiness,” (The Ethical Life, p. 97). They believed that life was better if the amount of happiness and pleasure would be increased but that no one’s happiness was more important than someone else’s. According to act utilitarianism, “an action is morally required just because it does more to improve overall well-being that any other acction you could have done in the circumstances,” (Fundamentals of Ethics, p. 123). In other words, an action is morally good if it creates a large amount of happiness and is wrong if it causes unhappiness. On the other hand, rule utilitarianism is the belief that an action is morally good depending on the correctness of the rules whose goal is to achieve the greatest amount of happiness.

“Utilitarianism is a simple, bold, and direct ethical theory. It takes happiness as its standard and uses it to assess the morality of the actions we perform.” (Sanchez 2). The basic principle of Utilitarianism theory of Ethics articulates that an action is right if and only if that action inclines to promotes net happiness. Furthermore, utilitarianism assert that multiple actions are considered right if and only if every action brings about parallel amount of happiness compare to other action that could have been executed. Laying away the likelihood of actions only producing happiness, “the utilitarian principle instructs us to perform the action that brings about the greatest net happiness. The “net” happiness of an action is simply the happiness it produces minus any unhappiness it causes” (Sanchez 3). Therefore, utilitarianism is not only concerned with the positive consequences of the actions, but utilitarianism is more interest in the overall consequences of the actions. Consequently, utilitarianism maintains that if the effect of an action does not encourage happiness, then that action is regarded to be wrong. Furthermore, the utilitarian theory states that the actions, which may have immediate positive outcome, could transpire harm to others or reciprocate any unintentional consequence. Therefore, in any given situation, a person should determine to take an action by taking an account of the long-term consequence of that action. For instance, deceiving another person may seem a

Utilitarianism is a theory in standardizing ethics holding that the best moral action is the one that maximizes utility. According to Mill, a lot of people misunderstand utilitarianism by thinking that utility is an obstruction to pleasure. Utility, also known as the Greatest Happiness Principle, is actually defined as pleasure itself, and the absence of pain. This principle is described as “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.”

Utilitarianism is a moral theory that has long been the subject of philosophical debate. This theory, when practiced, appears to set a very basic guideline to follow when one is faced with a moral dilemma. Fundamental Utilitarianism states that when a moral dilemma arises, one should take action that causes favorable results or reduces less favorable results. If these less favorable results, or pain, occur from this action, it can be justified if it is produced to prevent more pain or produce happiness. Stating the Utilitarian view can summarize these basic principles: "the greatest good for the greatest number". Utilitarians are to believe that if they follow this philosophy, that no matter what action they take, it

1. Utilitarians believe that “one should so act as to promote the greatest happiness (pleasure) of the greatest number of people” (Angeles 326). However, within the utilitarian community there are major splits in how we are to determine which action brings us the greatest amounts of pleasure. Today I will be focusing on two ways to determine which actions bring the greatest amount of pleasure to a situation: act and rule utilitarianism. I will define both act and rule utilitarianism, give a situation where both can be applied, and respond to an objection of utilitarianism. I will also be discussing why I believe act utilitarianism helps more people than rule utilitarianism, in turn, becoming ‘superior’ to rule utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism is one of the most commonly used ethical theories from the time it was formulated by Jeremy Bentham and John Stewart Mill in the nineteenth century. In his work, Utilitarianism, Bentham “sought to dispel misconceptions that morality has nothing to do with usefulness or utility or that morality is opposed to pleasure” (MacKinnon, 2012, p. 53). To simplify the utilitarian principle, which is one of utility, one can surmise that morality is equated with the greatest amount of utility or good for the greatest number of people (MacKinnon, 2012). Also, with its orientation to the “end or goal of actions” (MacKinnon, 2012, p. 54), Utilitarianism thus, espouses the consequentialist principle, e.g., the evaluation of any human act lies not so much in the nature of the act or the drive behind the act but rather the result of the act (MacKinnon, 2012).

Utilitarianism is the argument that all actions must be made for the greatest happiness for the greater number of people (Bentham, 42). However, utilitarianism cannot always be the basis of one’s decisions due to the fact that people need to look out for their own pain and pleasure before consulting others’ wellbeing. I will first explain the arguments of the utilitarianism ideal. Then I willl explain why this argument is unconvincing. Ultimately, I will then prove why people consider their own happiness before considering others. Thus showing the utilitarianism view is implausible due to the need for people to consider their own happiness when making decisions or else they themselves will be experiencing the most pain and unhappiness.

Rule Utilitarianism: tells one to obey the rules that bring the maximum happiness to the greatest number of people. Rule utilitarianism maintains a behavioral code or rule which is good if the consequences of adopting the rules favorable to the greatest number of people.

The study of morality is performed through descriptive approach or philosophical approach consisting of normative or prescriptive ethics. One approach says that people should always act in the own self- interest (Individual Ethical Egoism), its premise being everyone should act to my own best interest. There also are those who believe that a person should act in their own interest only (Personal Ethical Egoism) and the third belief is (Universal Ethical Egoism) based on the premise that everyone should act in their own self-interest regardless of others. I assume that you can see the glaring flaws in each of these theories.

The rule utilitarianism looks at the rules of actions which are potential and looks at what would happen if a certain