Preview

Act Utalitarianism And Rule Utilitarian Decisions

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
742 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Act Utalitarianism And Rule Utilitarian Decisions
Act Utilitarian and Rule Utilitarian Decisions
Name
Class name
Teacher name
Date

Act Utilitarian and Rule Utilitarian Decisions Making decisions is hard for most people, but making a decision regarding another person life is even harder. The scenario shows a common case for a a doctor, and according to his education he could take an act utilitarian decision or a rule utilitarian one. Act utilitarian acts are those that are consider to be right if there is maximized utility, and a rule utilitarian acts are those that are more of an idealistic code. Both of them are to be used in different decisions that are to be taken in life, and depending on the decision taken there will be consequences. (Mason, 2000)
…show more content…
Also, the doctor could take a decision based on the fact that he contributes with large sums of money to local charities, this will be also considered an act utilitarian decision because it is been taken based on how much can be achieved by experimenting the drugs on him rather than on the teacher, who apparently doesn 't "give much" to the society. A rule utilitarian decision will be to give it to the teacher. She seems to be a lost cause because of how she entered the hospital. But if the doctor was to take a decision based on her being the one who supports her family and being a school teacher who doesn 't have as many opportunities like the artist, he will be taking a rule utilitarian decision. The rule utilitarian decision may be more of a fantasy world because the teacher is described as a person with fewer opportunities in this case, so choosing her, will be to choose a case that is not likely to succeed, and not likely to give any fruits for the …show more content…
Maybe it is idealism to think about trying to save the teacher instead of saving the artist, but it is not just about saving, it is about considering the whole situation. The artist has the opportunity of looking for alternatives because he has the financial means to do so, maybe with the recommendation of the doctors he may be able to acquire the drug by other means, also in case he is not able to receive the experimental drug he can alternate with other treatments that may be expensive but then again he has the financial means to afford it. The only chance the teacher has is if the doctors decide to try an experimental drug on her, she is the main support for her family, and the teacher salary is not likely to be sufficient to support a family and pay hospital bills, nevertheless look for an alternative cure for cancer, which leaves the teacher almost

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Week 2 Hcs Case Study

    • 1023 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Jerry is faced with an ethical dilemma on whether or not to call in a prescription for Valium. Ethically, the answer is not. Jerry, in this scenario, is working as an office assistant and even though he has both trainings as a medical assistant and an LPN, he is not authorized to refill a prescription. Even if Jerry were working as an LPN for the day he does not have the authorization from Dr. Williams to make that call. In doing so, Jerry could lose his licensure.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, I only have the ability to save one at this time. It is during impossible circumstances like these that we should consider the advice of those who came before us. John Stuart Mill was a noted English philosopher during the 19th century who followed a utilitarian approach to such dilemmas. He believed that the right answer was the one which would help the most people. St. Thomas Aquinas was an Italian philosopher who taught us to follow our conscience, to follow our heart and do what we believe is right.…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Utilitarianism Act means to do the right action that will benefit a good amount of people over any other option. In the two examples I read from Bernard Williams “A Critique of Utilitarianism” I realized those were two difficult choices these two men had to make. However, if we follow the Utilitarianism Act, George would of taken the job offer and Jim would unfortunately sacrifice one of the protestors to save the rest. By George taking the job offer, it would benefit his family financially and also help his family’s emotional battle. Also, George opposing chemical and biological warfare would mean he wont have much interest compared to the other gentlemen that had much more interest on the subject. This will benefit a large amount of people…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    By prioritizing the school's image and mitigating potential damage, this course of action serves the greater good by safeguarding the institution's interests without further harm to the girl involved. If we look at the Transmission of Justice, a utilitarian approach would assess whether his actions ultimately lead to the greatest good for the greatest number of individuals involved. Initially, Officer Jenkins assisted Tony by helping him avoid serious consequences for his involvement in the car stereo theft ring. Utilitarianism would analyze this action by considering the consequences: Did it result in greater overall happiness or utility? By helping Tony, Officer Jenkins may have prevented harm to Tony himself, his family, and potentially other victims of car theft.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    First of all, an act (extreme) utilitarian concentrates on the effects of individual actions; therefore, act utilitarian believes that actions should result in the best overall result possible and produce the most usefulness. Usefulness is defined by…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    This system concerns itself with determining the greater good and what decision will be beneficial to the most people. The second system presented is the deontological system. Under this system, a worker would look at the needs of the individual and determine the best course of action for the patient themselves. There is no suggestion that these two methods should conflict. In fact, quite often, what is best for a patient is often what is best for society as a whole. The problem arises in the instances where these two methods conflict. In these cases, a worker must apply the concept of prudency. This is the idea that a similar person would make the same decision under the same…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pleasures and pain contribute in determining the classification of one’s actions. In Mill’s Utilitarianism, he examines what determines an action to be considered right or wrong, his own version of the hedonistic utilitarianism argument. He claims that these qualities, including the quantity, are an important factor in determining, when included in the consequences, the criteria of an action. The consequences are significant in determining the results of one’s actions.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    UNIT 4222 304

    • 519 Words
    • 2 Pages

    While working in care, the aim is to give the best possible standard of care to service users, but sometimes there can be a conflict beetween the individual’s or their family’s wishes and rights and the duty of care. In this case the most important thing is to decide whether the person is aware of the risks and consequences of the decision and has the capacity to make the decision. Before taking best interest decisions I have to make sure that the person definitely lacks the capacity. The person or their next of kin has an overall right and responsibility in decision making for issues relating their care, and I need their consent to deal with certain issues. When a dilemma arises, my responsibility is to support individuals or their families to make informed choices. Even if I disagree with their decision, I can only give advice but can not force them. If…

    • 519 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Utilitarianists, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, said, “The right action is the one that, on balance, promotes the most happiness, or the greatest amount of pleasure over pain” (Steinbock p.9), and “Man desires as much happiness and as little suffering as possible, and nothing else is worth desiring” (Fenigsen p.244). I can’t say that I always agree with utilitarianism, but in this case of PAS I convinced that doctors have to satisfy the small amount of terminally ill patients what is very popular in this ethical theory. This way of thinking might be criticized by Kantianism which advocates promoting the happiness not only for few people. Some cases from countries and a few states in USA, where PAS is legal, show that it might happen that satisfying some people doctors could abuse others, but it’s not too much occasions, because the number of people who ask for help is still so small, and the affairs of abuse are rare. For example, the statistic in 2010 in Oregon shows that 96 Oregonians asked their doctors to prescribe a deadly barbiturate which they could ingest causing their own death; 65 of them went ahead and did so. This mode of dying accounts for just 0.2% of death in Oregon (Brennan p. 18). Also the request of PAS was from really terminally ill patients. In the Netherlands and Belgium the large majority of the patient suffered from…

    • 2039 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Physician Aid in Dying

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Bioethics is considered by some to be the decisions made by a person or group using logic and knowledge of right or wrong as it affects current biological issues. It is a growing concern in today’s world where people are caught in a balancing act of human nature and law to determine right and wrong regarding biological and medical issues concerning them. A bioethical issue that has been around for years is physician aid in death. Although this issue is said to give terminally ill patients the comfort and dignity of ending their lives on the terms they choose, some say that decisions are influenced by doctors and infringe upon human rights.…

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shaw and Barry

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Rule Utilitarianism is based only on one single rule, which is utility. According to this theory, it is immaterial whether the utility provides any happiness or not. According to this theory, it is the value of the consequences of a particular act that counts while determining whether an act is morally correct or not. The value of consequences of an act is determined by the number of positive outcomes that can result for the greatest number of people.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Relating to “Tyrant,” should the patient be treated? Deontology clashes with utilitarianism when the patient is being diagnosed for his mysterious illness. For this situation in “Tyrant” a deontologist would say the ethical action would be to treat the patient and not based your decision on what the patient has done or plans to do. It would not be ethical to refuse him treatment or treat him wrong on purpose. Flip the roles to a utilitarianism, and they would say the ethical action would be the action that benefits the greatest number. It would be ethical to not treat the patient for the civilians of his country can be free of the genocide. It would not be ethical to treat him because it only benefits the patient rather than benefitting his country peoples. In “Tyrant” you can see how the two theories clashed when Dr. Chase and Dr. Cameron are deciding to treat the patient or…

    • 1496 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    2) The moral issue of physician-assisted suicide is a fascinating case due to the dividedness among people who either support or oppose the concept. When looking at physician-assisted suicide through the four moral principles of bioethics, one might come to a better understanding of the issue from an ethical standpoint. Autonomy, a person’s rational capacity of self-governance, describes the ability to make one’s own decisions and direct their own life. With the case of physician-assisted suicide, autonomy suggests the patient has the right to decide whether or not he/she wants to live with a terminally ill disease, and they therefore, can request the prescription of a lethal drug in order to end their life. If a physician only looked at autonomy, then the result would indefinitely be to prescribe that patient what he/she wishes because they have the right to control their own life decisions. Beneficence, the concept of doing good to others and avoid giving them harm, could contradict the idea of autonomy in this case, since prescribing a patient a lethal dose of medication could be seen as doing the patient harm. Although the medication would be self-administered, the physician would be enabling the suicide, and ultimately causing the patient to die. Utility, on the other hand, involves producing a favorable balance of good over bad, producing pleasure and happiness. In this particular case, utility could used to argue that the patient is in pain and ending their lives would ultimately produce pleasure. If the patient has less than six months to live, and the illness is irreversible, than physician-assisted suicide could bring them overall happiness, since they would not have to live with the disease any longer, causing a better balance of goodness over harm. The principle of justice refers to receiving what is fair or what is due, based on moral rightness. In my opinion, this is the grayest area of the…

    • 1462 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethical Viewpoint

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Individuals find themselves having to make important decisions every day. Unfortunately situations may occur that prevents a person from being able to make a decision about their medical care. The decision can be a legal or ethical one. In the medical arena someone has to make this tough decision. The decision what to do would be easy if everyone put in place an advance directive or living will. Hospitals and other healthcare organizations had to come up with ways to deal with ethical issues revolving around impaired or incompetent physicians, end-of-life issues, ethics and economics, and abuse and ethical issues. The quality assurance process including risk management, and the establishment of a Bioethics Committee for the facility are ways hospitals and medical organizations address ethical issues and situations.…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    With regard to utilitarianism, “the moral theory that holds that an action can be considered good or bad in relation to its end result” (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2012, p. 40), health care workers make daily decisions that impact other people’s lives. When making decisions for health care issues, I think about what I can do that can help the majority of the people involved, as opposed to helping just one person in general, “distributive justice” (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2012, p. 81).…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays