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John Stuart Mill Act Utilitarianism

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John Stuart Mill Act Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a standard ethical theory that claims the greatest moral action is the one that maximizes utility. This well-known consequentialist theory views that right or wrong depend on the consequences of an act and not the intentions or motives that produce the act .Ultimately, the purpose of the act should be one that maximizes utility and promotes a better world.For instance philosopher Bentham’s principle of utility is based on the idea that an action is right if it produces the greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest number of people.On the other hand, Mill’s principle of utility is based on the idea that an action is right if it promotes happiness,and wrong if it produce the reverse of happiness.Utility is a principle …show more content…
First the act utilitarianism which focuses on the consequences of the individuals act and measure utility each time the act is performed. Second the rule utilitarianism that observes the consequences of making everyone follow a certain rule and measure the overall utility of implementing or rejecting the rule.One is to reason through the moral worth of an action by considering the consequence of the action and it’s input to the overall utility in maximizing happiness or pleasure .The overall objective of this theory is to act in a way that will produce the greatest amount of happiness or pleasure to the greatest amount of people.However , Utilitarians will claim there’s no universallly valid moral principle that can be apply to all humans because all moral values are relative to culture and indivuals intrinsic values. Although, there’s a strong doctrine of negative responsibility pertaining to the concept of Utilitarianism. This doctrine declares that people are responsible for actions they fail to prevent as well as they are for actions they …show more content…
Nevertheless , I will defend the theory against these objections by reasoning how the concept of utilitarianism will favor the greater amount of people and therefore the sacrifice a person will make is the reason why this principle is morally right to follow. In any type of situation there’s always going to be a dilemma, where one person will have to commit an action that may affect another person or a whole group in a positive or negative way. However ,we as human beings living as a community will have to put ourselves in the position of those whom we will affect and do what’s best for the whole no matter what obstacles we may encounter. In reference to the negative responsibility doctrine , we as humans are not always in control of everything surrounding us therefore why should we have that moral responsibility of actions not directly committed by us directly.That would not be right in most causes because it would violate or right of being humans, and ultimately all actions would either way have a contradiction . So, it would always be right to do what's best for all and not what’s best for us a

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