Describe the main strengths and weaknesses of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism was originally formulated by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century‚ and fully developed by John Stewart Mill in the 19th. It states that we should always act so as to produce the greatest ratio of good to evil for everyone concerned with our decision. As with all moral theories‚ utilitarianism has many strengths and weaknesses. The main strength for this theory is that it is always looking for the greatest good for the greatest
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In this paper I will be discussing Gaverick Matheny’s concern with utilitarianism and its relationship to factory farm animals. Gaverick Matheny’s first premise is that utilitarianism is a legitimate ethical theory. Matheny’s second premise is that utilitarianism includes non-human interests. Matheny’s third premise is that factory farms violate utilitarian beliefs. Matheny’s conclusion‚ therefore‚ is that factory farms are unethical and that “most of us should change the way we live” (13)
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Flight 93 and Utilitarianism in Times of Crisis On September 11‚ 2001 United Airlines flights 93 crashed in a field near Shanksville‚ Pennsylvania. It has been theorized that the crash was a result of the passengers trying to regain control after it had been hijacked by four members of the Al Qaeda terrorist group in their attempt fly the aircraft into either the White House or the U.S. Capitol building. With that being said‚ let’s change the scenario a little bit. Suppose that none of the
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two ethical theories that will be applied Kantianism and Rule Utilitarianism. Kantianism is an ethical theory where it states that it does not treat people as a means to an end. Rule Utilitarianism states that it is ethical if the moral rules are applied universally and that is has to look at all the actions to find which results can have the greatest amount of happiness or unhappiness (Quinn‚ 2013). Under Kantianism and Rule Utilitarianism is it ethical?
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perspective in ethics as it focuses on the pleasure over the pain of an action. An English philosopher by the name of John Mill uses the utilitarianism approach‚ arguing that we should offer freedom of choice to all individuals. Mill believes that women have the right to do what they want to their own bodies‚ and that they should do what is best for them. Utilitarianism challenges traditional perspectives that abortion is an evil act‚ instead it argues that the end validates the means. In “Principles
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Utilitarianism states that “an act is only right if it causes the greatest happiness in the greatest number.” In his essay Utilitarianism‚ John Stuart Mill added a qualitative component to this mathematically driven theory. Mill created a distinction between higher‚ intellectual pleasures and lower‚ bodily pleasures. Mill stated that some pleasures are of a higher quality‚ and therefore are worth more. Additionally he stated that no quantity of a lower pleasure could achieve the same quality as
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Animal Experimentation: Unethical According to Utilitarianism Introduction: One of the most debated ethical issues is Animal Rights. Animals are so much a part of our lives and world that it is impossible to ignore the ethical issues we are faced with pertaining to the treatment of animals. What is difficult about these issues is that although animals have many similar attributes as humans they lack the developed brain function that humans have. Although many animals can feel pain‚ experience
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Consequentialism and Utilitarianism Consequentialism‚ as its name suggests‚ is the view that normative properties depend only on consequences. This general approach can be applied at different levels to different normative properties of different kinds of things‚ but the most prominent example is consequentialism about the moral rightness of acts‚ which holds that whether an act is morally right depends only on the consequences of that act or of something related to that act‚ such as the motive
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mean we have to give up our own happiness‚ because if everyone did this‚ none of us would be happy. Therefore‚ sacrificing our own happiness would only be good if it produced more happiness overall. Just as Mill‚ I do not believe utilitarianism is too demanding. Utilitarianism is simply a theory and just as any theory there are exceptions to it. We should simply try our best to do acts that brings the most happiness to those around us‚ when reasonably possible and without sacrificing our own
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and hope to put good out into the world. One can define “good” in many different ways‚ but depending on an individual’s ethical code‚ they may or may not be considered good. The three major ethical theories which we addressed are Kantian Ethics‚ Utilitarianism‚ and Virtue Ethics. A strong argument could be made for each theory‚ but one sticks out as the best and most reasonable theory of ethics. Kantian Ethics is the best universal theory of ethics‚ as it allows for individual rights and is specific
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