Preview

Utilitarianism Sentient Creatures And Humanity Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
992 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Utilitarianism Sentient Creatures And Humanity Analysis
Running head: UTILITARIANISM: SENTIENT CREATURES AND HUMANITY !1
Utilitarianism: Sentient Creatures and Humanity
Anonymous
University of the People
UTILITARIANISM: SENTIENT CREATURES AND HUMANITY !2
Utilitarianism: Sentient Creatures and Humanity
A virtuous humanitarian might never muse over murdering someone for flesh, a cannibalistic reason in which starvation is a consequence of hunger in isolation. Some would choose death, sacrificing individual life for collective lives. But, is self-sacrifice the ultimate character trait? Is it wise? Or, is it foolish? While the character trait of self-sacrifice may be innately the ideal, virtuous humanitarian, there are situations in which the individual chooses not to. Hence, creating a complex degree
…show more content…
Furthermore, it is inevitable that every species will experience pain and suffering, but animals tend to not inflict such onto themselves. It is human beings that oppress and abuse them. However, in utilitarianism, happiness means freedom, but there are criticisms that must be dependent on the situation.
UTILITARIANISM: SENTIENT CREATURES AND HUMANITY !3
Differentiating hedonism from utilitarianism allows inspection of when meat-eating is considered moralistic, ethical, or never. The belief in animal rights already suggests that hunting is like murder—there is no basis in accepting the act as fun which is a sensuality. A utilitarian vegan might argue that meat-eating is harmful to the environment which harms every species.
Considering the impacts of feeding grains and giving fresh water to livestock, the maldistribution of food and water globally, and the methane produced, it is a collective reason to choose a plantbased diet. But, there is a sense of justice that would allow meat-eating in certain circumstances.
The underprivileged might eat meat because of efficiency with poverty being a struggle.
Sometimes, it involves cultural relativism in which cultural foods sample meats. Even
…show more content…
Scientifically, not eating meat is healthy overall when smartly done, but there are no surging politics to defend it so far in the United
UTILITARIANISM: SENTIENT CREATURES AND HUMANITY !4
States. Unfortunately, some animal rights activists become impeding on others which removes the collective intention and becomes an individual motivation to convert lifestyles. That is possibly why many do not change, but seeking for political power on meat-eating becomes a valuable asset towards utilitarian law though would meet rejection by the norm.
If utilitarianism values collective intentions, then that foregoes individual intentions.
Morality says that you should never treat rational human beings merely as means to your end” (Justice Harvard, n.d.), but the individual that rejects meat-eating might reject it merely because it is repulsive to recognize slaughter becomes flesh on the platter. Unlike me, I am a utilitarian if it means furthering justice and compassion upon the world. I have not become a vegan for many years because my family does the shopping for food groceries, so it would be selfish of me to impede on that. But, is it selfish if it is reasoned with protecting the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Over the course of mankind, “meat has been closely associated with power and privilege—a staple for the gentry and a rare treat for the peasants” (Ruby, Heine 448). Linking back to Campbell’s 1940 beef soup advertisement, beef is illustrated as a “For MEN Only” diet. There is a possibility that the ad’s secret message conveys’ females as being vegans’ since “people’s perceptions of vegetarians found that women were more accepting of vegetarians than men (Walker, 1995)…” (447). Furthermore, “[women’s] attitudes toward vegetarians were predominantly positive, especially among those [that scored] low in authoritarianism (Chin, Fisak, & Sims, 2002), and that omnivores tend to rate vegetarians as good, but weak people (Monin & Minson, 2007).” (447). In other words, women and vegetarians are seen as inferior compared to those who eat meat – though this is seen a generalization/perception in society. On the other hand, vegetarians are also perceived as people that have “a stronger sense of virtue and morality in those who abstain from eating meat” (450), since they abide by “four principal reasons: concern for animal welfare, concern for the environment, concern for health, and disgust at the sensory qualities of meat (e.g. Fox & Ward, 2008; Santos & Booth, 1996; Worsley & Skrzypiec, 1998).” (447). For males,…

    • 1817 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarian ethical theories are based on one’s ability to expect the concerns of an deed. Utilitarianism’s creed is that the result of any action takes importance over any type of means, this means that Utilitarianisms objective is to help as many individuals as possible even if it were to negatively disturb people along the way so as long as it helped the general populace. Basically, it’s the ends that matter not necessarily the means.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People tend to pay as much attention to food as they do brushing their teeth. I urge you, however, to take a step back, slow down, and really think about the food you eat. Eating is a complex thing. It may surprise you. And when you actually think about eating, you will eventually come to think about eating meat. This is no accident, meat has it's pull on humanity. And on our world. The choices we make matter. According to the best-selling author Jonathan Safran Foer, eating the meat we know "is certainly the single worst thing that humans can do to the environment"(457). Foer has been recognized by Rolling Stones Magazine and Esquire for his many accomplishments. In one of his works, "Against Meat", Foer covers the relationship of meat and…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Meatless Like Me Analysis

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I’m surprised to see some people moving to the status “vegetarian” and this worries me for some rationality. These vegetarians who were once traditional eaters have transformed their diet to green-eaters. For example, they have become sympathizes towards animals. Especially towards “cows”. In fact, Taylor Clark, the author of “Meatless Like Me” one day, “realized that he could never look a cow in the eyes” and he felt as if he was doing something “cruel and unnecessary” (345). On the other hand, there are many omnivores who simply care about sustaining a balanced diet such as myself. It is important to feed humans and then not kill a cow to obtain food to the dying human child is,…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    No longer wanting to eat meat is a personal issue, but the cruel meat industry is a social…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Persuasive Essay On Meat

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Living in the heart of the western American mountains, meat plays a big role in the generic lifestyle. Many families obtain their meats through recreational hunting, and fishing. Turning twelve in our community means that, you can now get your hunting license and go out with dad every weekend starting in September. It is safe to say that more than the majority of the families that live within the Bitterroot Valley consume a high percentage of meat, every day, for nutritional benefits as well as personal preference. It is the generic ‘western American’ thing to do, sit down with the family on a Sunday afternoon, say grace and eat a burger. One of the biggest holidays around, Thanksgiving, revolves around the harvesting, and consumption of meat. However there is another lifestyle that I feel is important to consider. If I could make a change in my community, big or small, I would choose to provide more vegetarian and vegan options for families to work into their lifestyles.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The most basic question that needs to be addressed is why animals should be included in the moral community in the first place. They do not share the same psychological and complex lives as humans do, so to consider animals seems to be a little peculiar. Kant, a deontologist, offered a reason as to why animals should be considered in the moral community. For him, it is only because if a person has a cruel nature towards animals, the person is at risk to develop a cruel nature towards other humans. The reasoning behind Kant’s position has nothing to do with animals having any intrinsic worth or being able to experience pain or pleasure. Utilitarianism takes into account that animals can experience pleasure and plain, so therefore they must be included in the moral community. Quite different from Kant, Jeremy Bentham elaborates the utilitarian position by saying “the question is not, Can…

    • 1623 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    There are many different ethical approaches that deal with the morality issues we face every day, but the utilitarian approach holds the feeling of morally belonging to a group and the lack of individualism that many others carry. It also can be a very cold approach for those who belong to the minority in a society. This is because the principle of utility says that “we ought to do that which produces the greatest amount of happiness or pleasure for the greatest number of people (MacKinnon, 32).” To examine utilitarianism we first need to look at the word, this is where we find the word “utility” imbedded into it. Utility, by mathematical definition, is “a measure of the total benefit or disadvantage attaching to each of a set of alternative courses of action.”1 Attaching this definition to the term utilitarianism we can conclude that utilitarianism pertains to measuring something that has more than one possible outcome. The utilitarian ethical theory is described more clearly “in normative ethics,” as a tradition “that an action is right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it tends to produce the reverse of happiness—not just the happiness of the performer of the action but also that of everyone affected by it.”2 Without getting into the debate of what makes an action “good”, this statement defines the theory, in fewer words, as weighing the consequences of the greater “good” over that of the lesser. The ability of human beings to weight these consequences is the shape of the utilitarian theories backbone and what gives it credence to this day.…

    • 1402 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Utilitarianism Works

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bentham created utilitarianism and Mill improved it. It main points are that human society exists to create happiness, that happiness is the highest goal and that everything needs to fit a purpose.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Veganism

    • 1686 Words
    • 7 Pages

    We can learn to become sensitive to our personal needs as well as the needs of animals. In a world that is growing with an increasing population, we must become aware of the ecological impact food consumption and farming has on nature and our environment. Eating healthy and caring about animals are choices.…

    • 1686 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Utilitariansim

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Utilitarianism, the brain child of Jeremy Bentham, is the idea that any action should only be sought out if it is beneficial for the majority of people affected. It is an extension of Virtue theory only on a magnified scale, accounting for the effects of an action on the society as a whole. It is teleological, aimed at the goal of extending happiness to as many people as possible and minimizing the amount of evil at the same time. There are two different forms of utilitarianism: quantitative and qualitative.…

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Act utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics which states that a person's act is morally right if and only if it produces the greatest overall utility. In assessing a moral theory there are four adequate criteria which are: completeness, explanatory, practicability and moral conformation. For completeness, an ethical theory should support all meaningful moral claims, neglecting none of the claims. Next, there is explanatory power. For this assessment a theory should provide insight into what makes something moral or immoral. As for practicability, the theory should be useful to us in actual practice. Lastly, for moral conformation, it should give us correct answers to our moral questions. The better a theory explains and fulfils these…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism 2

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Utilitarianism is the ethical doctrine which essentially states that which is good is that which brings about the most happiness to the most people. John Stuart Mill believed that the decisions we make should always benefit the most people as much as possible regardless of the consequences to the minority or even yourself. He would say all that matters in the decision of right versus wrong is the amount of happiness produced by the consequences. In the decisions we make Mill would say that we need to weigh the outcomes and make our decision based on that outcome that benefits the majority. For Mill, pleasure is the only desirable consequence of our decisions or actions. The Judeo-Christian ethic embraced by Augustine places questions of right and wrong under the authority of a divine creator - God. The Judeo-Christian ethic can be summed up in one word - Love. In Matthew 22:40 Jesus says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love you neighbor as yourself.” When Augustine said, “Love God and do what you will”, I believe he is asserting the fact that when a person loves God truly he or she is in God’s will. John 14:15 says, “If you…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Let me begin with the words by George Bernard Shaw: ‘Animals are my friends and I don't eat my friends'. This indicates the ethic aspect of meat consumption. In fact, people often don't realize how animals are treated, but they can see commercial spots in their TV showing smiling pigs, cows or chickens, happy and ready to be eaten. My impression is that there can't be anything more cruel and senseless. It is no secret that animals suffer all their life from the lack of living space, unnatural diet and doping. Finally, they are transported to slaughterhouse, where they are stunned by electricity and then brutally slain with a chopper. Life of such animal is full of pain and fear. It is a sad truth that nobody thinks about it while eating pork-chops. People often consider animals as a still matter, not living creatures.…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Animal Cruelty

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Firstly meat consumption is a terrible point towards this topic. As humans devour animals making them suffer the animals disappear one by one endangering the specie. For example shark fin soup is a terrible meal to eat as fishermen cut of the fins of shark leaving them in the ocean on the underwater deserts where the rays hunt for food. However some people believe that eating animals is cruel then they drop eating meat and become vegetarians.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays