Project Part 1 An Introduction to Ethical Theories ITT Technical Institute, Hanover MD Mathew Leetch HU4640 Ethics July 22, 2015 An Introduction to Ethical Theories Abstract This paper is going to discuss Ethics and Ethical Theories. It will include an introduction to ethical theories, virtue ethics, and care ethics. There will be sections discussing absolutism versus relativism, consequentialism versus deontological ethics, and lastly, free will versus determinism. It will also include a discussion about the study of morality and identify which of the approaches (Scientific, Philosophical, or Theological/Religious) are closest to my own personal beliefs. There will be a discussion regarding the three sources of ethics …show more content…
Utilitarianism considers the pleasure and pain of every individual affected by an action. It also considers everyone to be equal and does not permit an individual to put their interests or relationships first. After this it attempts to provide an objective, quantitative method for making moral decisions. Utilitarianism is not able to assign quantitative measures to all pleasures and pains, and does not address the issue of some pleasures and pains that cannot or should not be measured-such as human life or human suffering. There are four types of egoism (ETHICAL EGOISM). The first is Psychological egoism and it is the view that humans are always motivated by self-interest. An example of this is …….. The second is Ethical egoism. This is when you should do something that is in your own self-interest. An example of this is performing a task for someone because you are getting paid to do it. Third is Individual ethical egoism. It states that everyone should act in their own best self-interest. An example of this is a policeman. He/she believes that they should do what is in their best interest just because of their role in society. Finally there is Universal ethical egoism. It states that everyone should always act in their own best self-interest, regardless of the interests of others, unless their interests
Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics which suggests that the best moral action is the one that maximizes utility. Utility is related to the good of human beings. Individuals who are for utilitarianism defines utility as the combined pleasure after reducing suffering of all involved in any action. Some individuals have expanded this definition of utility to consider not only the quantity, but quality of pleasure, while focusing on rules, instead of individual moral actions. Others have denied that pleasure has actual value and have advocated negative utilitarianism, which defines utility only in terms of suffering.
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.
There are two basic kinds of egoism, there is ethical egoism and there is psychological egoism. These two different forms of egoism are different because ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that what is moral is to be done in self-interest. This is different from psychological egoism which states specifically that people will only act in their own self-interest. Ethical egoism is broken up into two forms. There is act egoism and Rule egoism. Act egoism says
Ethical egoism is the normative theory that the promotion of one's own good is in accordance with morality. In the strong version, it is held that it is always moral to promote one's own good, and it is never moral not to promote it. In the weak version, it is said that although it is always moral to promote one's own good, it is not necessarily never moral to not. That is, there may be conditions in which the avoidance of personal interest may be a moral action.
Utilitarianism is more focus on the consequence than the process of action or the nature of the action. That means if the all consequence is same or similar, the different motivation of actions is acceptable although, at sometimes, the motivation of the action is immoral. Also, it is difficult to measure what action can contribute to a good consequence since in the different situation the same actions will contribute some total different results. Thus, under the utilitarianism, when people do alternative, the standard of choosing is which one can produce the maximum happiness; when the happiness is more than the pain, this choice is the best one.
Egoism is viewed as attempting to get personal recognition for yourself. In some cases the use of this term is to be selfish, ignorant, and malicious with the purpose of causing harm to others. For example, when you give a bad judgment to a friend’s clothing with the purpose of that person to change of clothes and you are the center of attention. I believed there are undefined answers of what egoism means. There are certain stages in life, in which you need to be egoist in order to pursuit your happiness without hurting others. As an example, a person who receives a higher job position in other city will take the opportunity leaving family and friends behind, but by the end it will be something that benefits you. In fact, society misunderstood
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
Ethical egoism is a position according to which every person takes care of themselves. According to ethical egoists, personal welfare should be the ultimate goal and as such, solely and exclusively focus on pursuit of self-interests. It prescribes a way in which people ought to behave morally. It also argues that maximization of personal interest is an important issue. Other people 's welfare does not matter when making a moral judgment about how to behave. However, this principle does not provide a satisfactory moral theory in its arguments.
Utilitarianism came about through the consequentialist ethical theory, which states that consequences determines whether something is good or bad. It is the idea that humans should act in a way that promotes the best utility for the most people. Utility can vary depending on the culture, but for the most part it means the greatest happiness or good for the most amount of people versus unhappiness. In order to determine what the best utility is, one must first determine what is intrinsically good within their culture or society. Then, one must determine what is bad. All of the options must be considered, with each option calculating the value of the results and what they would bring about. Lastly, one must take the course of action that has the highest ratio of good to bad results. Utilitarianism should not be confused with hedonism, which states that the only good thing in itself is pleasure and happiness. Instead, it does not give preferences to happiness or desires, but rather provides a moral compass with which to follow. This might mean sacrificing one’s own happiness for the better utility of the whole.
Utilitarianism is a moral theory developed and expanded upon by philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. According to John Stuart Mill, utilitarianism is the “creed which accepts as the foundations of morals, utility, or the greatest-happiness 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, Utilitarianism) As mentioned above, the main tenet of utilitarianism is based upon the notion that no moral decision is intrinsically right or wrong. Rather, whether a decision is right or wrong is dependent on overall utility produced as a result of making a decision. Utility produced can be defined as health, pleasure, happiness, satisfaction, and/or happiness. Some strengths of utilitarianism is as follows. One, the ethical theory is based on the straightforward principle of minimizing pain and suffering and maximizing pleasure and happiness. Utilitarianism is attractive to the individual and society, because it seeks decisionmaking that contributes to a happy life. Two, utilitarianism is egalitarian and it allows all individuals the power to make their own decisions. Third, in utilitarianism value extends beyond humans and includes other species. Utilitarianism also contains a number of weaknesses. One, utilitarianism de-prioritizes the right of the individual. In the pure pursuit of pleasure, utilitarianism will exploit individuals and
Ethical Egoism is the doctrine that each person ought to pursue his or her own self-interest exclusively. Ethical Egoism is the idea that the principle of self-interest accounts for all of one’s obligations (Rachels & Rachels, 2016). With Ethical Egoism, sometimes helping others will also help yourself. Ethical Egoism does not say to not help others. “The benefit to others is not what makes the act right; the act is right because it benefits you.” A common misunderstanding with this theory is that an Ethical Egoist is egotistical Ethical egoism endorses selfishness, but not foolishness. The three main arguments of Ethical Egoism are altruism is self-defeating,
Utilitarianism (also called consequentialism) is “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure.” (CW, X.210) (Heydt). There are several varieties of utilitarianism. “Basically, a utilitarian approach to morality implies that no moral act (an act of stealing) or rule (“Keep your promises”) is intrinsically right or wrong. Rather, the rightness or wrongness of an act or rule is solely a matter of the overall nonmoral good (pleasure, happiness, health, knowledge, or satisfaction of individual desire) produced in the consequences of doing that act or following that rule (Moreland, 2009).” I will argue the believe of Utilitarian’s way of the purpose of morality is to make life better by “increasing the amount of good things” (such as pleasure and happiness) in the world and “decreasing the amount of bad things” (such as pain and unhappiness) (Nathanson).
Psychological egoism is the belief that a person’s actions are prompted by their own selfishness. If every action in the world was done, only to fulfill one’s own selfish aspirations, then there would be no purely altruistic deeds. Moral egoism is the belief that people should do what is in their best self-interest; however, they have a tendency to carry out actions due to their genuineness. Based on its definition, morality is doing something because it is the “right” thing to do. Psychological egoism creates a threat to morality, because if a person is acting kindly, not because it is right, but because he seeks self-gain, then morality is non-existent.
The definition for ethical egoism is basically “how we ought to act”. Ethical egoism builds itself around the idea that the best way to promote collective reimbursement, is to follow self-interests. By always striving for our own personal self-fulfillment a person will better be able to promote what is in the best interest of the community, more so than always striving to promote the community’s interests. A person is able to hold a sociable role that supports the general public by taking care of his or her own well-being and self-interest first.
Egoism states “…one’s self is, or should be, the motivation and the goal of one’s own action (Moseley, N/A).” Egoistic theory states that everyone should want to act for the desired outcome of the self. There are two types of egoism: ethical and psychological (Kirkwood, 2016). Psychological egoism states we act in ways that are wrong, even though we know it is wrong, for our own selfish needs (Kirkwood 2016). In contrast, ethical egoism states that we should act in a certain way to benefit ourselves (Kirkwood 2016). Ethical egoism is best suited to explain why it is “just” for physicians to assist patient suicide; because it is financially beneficial for both the family and tax payers. Any Rand, an ethical egoist stated, “[e]veryone should