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Utilitarianism And Deontological Ethics : Utilitarianism

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UTILITARIANISM AND DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS 13

Utilitarianism and Deontological Ethics
Christopher Kearney
Student ID 4697583
American Public University System (AMU)
Dr. Robert Watkins
September 21,2017

Abstract
Usefulness and duty are two of the primary drivers that cause people to take action or not. Usefulness of an action means that the society receives the greatest amount of benefits from the action (or actions) of an individual(s). On the other hand, duty is the obligation or a sense of honor that a society may achieve by following a set code of conduct or ideals to accomplish a goal. Most of the time that goal is for causing good to others. Certain powerful entities, such as the …show more content…

In other words, it evaluates the desirability of a specific action based on the outcomes of that choice. A familiar guide for such a decision-making would be selecting the option that yields the greatest good for the greatest number of people, or the least harmful result. It demands that individuals judge their actions based on the significance or correctness of the outcome of it. That means if the outcome of an action is good, then the action can be ethical. On the other hand, if an action is wrong, then it is unethical (Tanner et al., 2007). According to George Moore (1965), a British philosopher, the “rightness” or “wrongness” of an action depends on its outcome (p. 80-83). The same holds true with other utilitarianists. George further states that an individual’s intentions or motives are irrelevant in evaluating the “rightness” or “wrongness” of their actions.
When thinking about the concept of rightness or wrongness of an action, it is good to consider the advantages from either one or both sides. The best scenario is for the two parties to come out in a win-win situation, but sometimes that is not possible. That is because utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory that basis the locus of right and wrong exclusively on the consequences of choosing one action over the other. The underlying principle of utilitarianism is looking beyond the desires and

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