The Theory of Utilitarianism Essay

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 philosophical theory. It concerns how to evaluate a large range of things that involve choices communities or groups face. These choices include policies, laws, human’s rights, moral codes,

Utilitarianism is a practical doctrine that is widely accepted in modern society’s economics, politic, and ethics. Utilitarian is driven by the pursuit of happiness. For a utilitarian, everything that will be helpful in the pursuit is considered good. In utilitarianism, an action is good or evil based on its consequences on the happiness of an individual and the happiness of the community. Similar to other doctrine, utilitarianism is not without a flaw. Bernard Williams, in his paper Utilitarianism and Integrity, voices his primary concern in regard to utilitarianism by providing two concrete examples to demonstrate how utilitarianism is only concerned about the consequences of the action and not about the means used to get there. Williams argues that utilitarianism fails to acknowledge the integrity of a person because the ultimate goal of utilitarianism is to produce the greatest happiness overall.

Utilitarianism is useful as it is a teleological ethic, so there are no exact rules. Humans naturally base their actions on what the consequences will be, so it is easy to adhere to this kind of ethics. Moreover, considering the results seems warmer and personal, as deontological arguments can be cold and rigid (e.g. stealing bread to feed starving children). This makes it more useful because it allows people's gut morality to be used more than being too legalistic. However,

Utilitarians believe that whether an act is right or wrong depends only on the consequences it produces. An act that results in at least as much pleasure or well being as other alternative acts is right, and vice versa. In other words, any act that does not maximize pleasure is morally wrong. Even though utilitarian ethics often clashes with conventional norms, the conflict has no direct moral relevance to the action.

The most significant argument against utilitarianism is that in some circumstances it presents the wrong answers to the moral questions. Opponents claim that utilitarianism give permission for the actions that are morally wrong. For instance: according to utilitarianism a doctor can kill a healthy person and uses his organs to save five other people life. The response is in all societies there are situations that `` may be right to sacrifice one person for the good of the whole`` (136). The other objection is that utilitarianism is too demanding. People should ignore their benefits to help improving the strangers. The response is people should`` not to worry much about the needs of those not in our primary circle`` (133). The other argument against this theory criticize that some actions are not predictable or the result not easy to find. The response is, it`s not hard to predict the possible result of an action and as general low every action or decision should produce happiness as much as possible. Personally, I prefer happiness as consequence for all my actions. When I face with a dilemma or a challenge, the first thing that guides me to take a right decision is the amount of happiness as result. For instance, recently I faced with a serious dilemma about quitting the nursing field or not. I really enjoy helping other people to reach their health and happiness back but I feel I am not physically strong enough to do my duties in this job. I

Utilitarianism is a moral theory that evaluates the rightness or wrongness of an action depending on its consequences. The criteria for this evaluation is how the action impacts the

The term utilitarianism is an ethical tradition that really focuses on the consequences of our actions. Outcomes matter with utilitarianism. When making a decision, we act in ways to produce better consequences than the alternatives. Better consequences can be thought of as anything that promotes the well-being for us as humans. Utilitarianism can be summarized as producing “the greatest good for the greatest number.” This idea opposes benefiting just a small portion of society. The well-being of everyone is considered with utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism created by Jeremy Bentham and expanded by John Stuart Mill (Driver,1). It is defined as an intuitive point of view which focus on the result of an ethical decision causing pleasure or pain. (CITE PROFESSOR). If an action results in the greatest amount of pleasure, for the individual or the society, then it was right. If it results in the greatest amount of pain then it wasn't wrong/bad.

“The Fundamental Principle of Morality is the Principle of Utility or Greatest Happiness Principle.” (Mill), this basically means picking the course of action that is more likely to produce the greatest good of the greatest number of people. “This is and has always been the fundamental principle of morality” (Mill). If you count the number of people who benefited from this “utilitarian” decision plus the amount of happiness or pleasure caused, it would definitely overcome the amount of pain caused plus the lives affected.

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

There are many ethical theories but this one, in particular, surpasses those of which that focus primarily on someone's personal interests but includes the significance and regard to those of other around them. Utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory that places the locus of right and wrong solely on the outcomes and consequences of choosing one action and or policy over other actions and or policies. There are a few problems that would arise from this ethical theory of utilitarianism just because of the fact it is about making the decision based on the greatest percent of overall happiness rather than primarily focusing on what is known to be the morally right go to choice. The problem this causes is not everyone may agree what they would

The basic idea of Utilitarianism is that it is the philosophical theory of morality and “how one should act.” Morality is also described as the theory of being able to determine what is right or wrong and it is basically like a map that one can use to determine what is wrong or right. In this school of study, right and wrong in Utilitarianism can be determined by the overall goodness of what the consequences of action chosen will likely yield. Utilitarianism attribute is that it focuses on the end result. We as human beings have been given the power to discern what we consider to be right or wrong based on our beliefs and especially how we have been raised up.

One of the major players in ethical theories has long been the concept of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism states that in general the ethical rightness or wrongness of an action is directly related to the utility of that action. Utility is more specifically defined as a measure of the goodness or badness of the consequences of an action (see quote by Mill above). For the

In fact, utilitarianism is an ethical theory mainly characterized by two elements: happiness and consequentialism. Happiness in utilitarianism is the biggest amount of pleasure everybody is looking for. Utilitarians have believed that pleasure or happiness is the good to be produced. In utilitarianism theory everything useful to happiness is good. As a result, the name of the doctrine is utilitarianism. The base of the principle to use is utility which is found in everything that contributes the happiness of human being.