Moral Philosophy

Everyone human being on the planet carries with them a moral philosophy of some sort. For some people it is a way of life, and they consult their philosophy before making any moral decision. However, for many their personal moral philosophy is undefined or unclear to them. Perhaps these people have a philosophy of their own that they abide to; yet fail to recognize that it exists. What I hope to uncover with this paper is my moral philosophy, and how I apply it in my everyday life. In my life, morality is something that has been developing since birth. Many of my moral decisions were influenced by the instruction of my parents growing up. What was considered right and wrong was advised by my parents. I went through a process of trial and error where my parents would condemn what was wrong and praise what was right. That helped me in making decisions further down the line. For example, if I knew that if I kicked our family dog (Mia) my parents would think it was wrong, I simply would not do it. Growing older I realized why my parents would advise against something such as kicking our family pet. They believed it was cruel to torment the animal and cause it unnecessary pain. So, being a rational being like my parents I too agreed that to cause unnecessary pain to our pet was wrong. “ought to" not do. Choosing not to kick the dog could be classified under the moral principle of utilitarianism. Ethical Utilitarianism: an action is morally right if the consequences of the action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone than unfavorable only to the moral agent performing the action. Perhaps more specifically this would be act utilitarianism since it is focusing solely on the act of kicking the dog, not the idea of kicking dogs in general. Even though it may serve in the self-interest of a young boy to kick a dog, as a utilitarianism principle he must refrain from kicking the dog to bring the greatest happiness. Not only would not kicking the dog (Mia) bring