Utilitarianism Essay, Research Paper
Utilitarianism
The main idea of utilitarianism, according to Adam Morton s book Philosophy in Practice is to follow the action that brings about the greatest amount of pleasure or the least amount of pain. This idea at first seems simple but when applied to some examples the edges blur. Millions of Americans love to watch football games, but lets say 200 people die a year playing this sport, and therefore the government wants to outlaw the sport all together. According to the concept above what would the utilitarian think? This is a type of example where it is uncertain to know what the utilitarian would do. Do millions of people s pleasure compare to the pain of the 200 football players families? In this situation it is hard to say which brings about the greatest amount of pleasure and which brings about the least amount of pain. This is not the only problem with utilitarianism. There are other situations that arise in which if you were to follow the utilitarian view you would be going against some of your own moral beliefs. For instance the example in Morton s book; your best friend is devoted to a woman that despises him and she is married anyway. But your friend believes that she does really love him and if he learned how she truly felt he would be heartbroken? He asks you to tell him how she really feels. Now thinking like a utilitarian you might be leaning towards either telling your friend that she really does love him or just evading the question, but what do your morals tell you to do? Personally I would be truthful to my friend and hope that in the end he would be better off knowing the truth.
There are good points to the utilitarian view though. Before knowing what the utilitarian would do, you must first think and consider the consequences, which most of us do not do all of the time. We all have said and done things that have hurt others without considering the consequences, but with utilitarianism we have to think about those consequences before we follow through with our actions. This is good because it allows us to think before we act, and therefore will be hurting less people. Another point is that sometimes we have to be unselfish and put others pleasure before ours if it will bring about more pleasure or less pain. It is usually a good thing to be unselfish but sometimes it ignores moral duties that we owe to ourselves. Should scientists, for instance, spend more time working on hypothesizes and experiments to cure diseases and less time with their kids, in order to bring about a greater amount of pleasure nationwide. Most of us would all agree that this is unfair to the scientists kids.
When you first think about utilitarianism you think many people must not use it. But actually many of its views are used everyday. The government is a big example of this. When the government receives extra money and it has to decide where it would be the most beneficial, it is using the idea of what brings about the greatest amount of pleasure to society. But sometimes the government gives this money to where it will please more people rather than where it is needed. This is a big difference. Just because society will be happier if the money is distributed to schools instead of to soup kitchens does not make it right. Another example is financial aid. Financial aid is given to whom ever it will benefit more and therefore will pleasure more. But once again there are problems with this. What one person believes will benefit more is not always whom it will please more. One family that did not receive financial aid might be struggling with college tuition and other things, while another family who received financial aid may be happy but there child does not even care much about school and is only going to please his or here parents. Another place where utilitarianism is used is in court. When people are sued for something, they have to decide whether it will financial hurt them less to just pay or will it cost them less to go to court and win. Sometimes the amount you are being sued for is significantly less than the amount it would cost to pay for a lawyer, never mind if you win or lose the case. These circumstances usually arise with recalled items. The company decides whether or not it will cost less to recall each item or less to go to court for each time. The presidential election is also a utilitarian situation. Each year the candidates form their program around that which will please the most amounts of people. They try to help more people and as a result are pleasuring more.
The biggest social problem we have with utilitarianism is based on money. In most of the situations above the thing that brings about the most pleasure is the money. I think this is a big problem we face. So many people out there believe that money will bring about more pleasure and less pain, but that is not always the case. There are many people out there that find happiness in other things. Many people take pleasure in helping others. A bum for example, would most likely be happier when a person walks up to them, smiles and apologizes that they don t have any money on hand, mostly treating them as a person. Rather than someone scowling at his or her stench, while dropping change in a cup. A smile can make someone s day and that has nothing to do with money.
As for whether or not these examples are moral, I believe that trying to benefit more people cannot necessarily be a bad thing. After all we are trying to make things better, but perhaps there are times when we need to worry more about what is needed than what is wanted. A quote posted on my eighth grade bulletin board rings through my ears, What is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular. How true this is! It is morally wrong to let people die on the street when we have the money to help them and we still decide to put it else where, yet I do not find it morally wrong to want to help more people.
What it all comes down to is that sometimes utilitarianism shows us how to think of others and put their pleasure before ours, but other times it takes away from what is morally right to ourselves and to others. At first the concept of utilitarianism seems simple, but when we really start to look at it and apply it to the consequences of our actions we realize the concept of that which brings about the greatest amount of pleasure or the least amount of pain is in reality too broad.
Другие работы по теме:
Right Theory Essay Research Paper Right Theory1
Right Theory Essay, Research Paper Right Theory: 1. Rights create obligations, type of moral discourse & involve agents, being who act & are acted upon. People are given obligations to respect your rights. There is no right to obligate other people rights. (Conventional rights: Created by group of people as law or regulation in our society.
Abortion Essay Research Paper A Plan for
Abortion Essay, Research Paper A Plan for a Homework Center The school board came up with an idea of making the school day two periods to give students time to do homework in a homework center. The idea of extending two classes is a good one. There are a lot advantages and disadvantages.
MILLS UTILITARIANISM Essay Research Paper In discussing
MILL?S UTILITARIANISM Essay, Research Paper In discussing matters of right and wrong, it is essential to first lay down the foundation of these concepts. These terms are indeed concepts because they hold no certain truth to the general society. True, righteousness may be a measurement of happiness, lack of pain, or a circumstantial mode of contentment, however, if you consider one persons? happiness to be another persons? pain, then what is the true measurement of right? We see that there are actually two distinct aspects to this question, a practical concern and a moral dilemma.
Utiliatariasm And Its Authors Essay Research Paper
Utilitarianism is the principle idea for the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers. In other words, maximize the pleasure while minimizing the pain. One such philosopher and believer of Utilitarianism is Jeremy Bentham, who lived from 1748 until 1832. He believed that there should be a moral system, and that it should do two things.
Age Of Reason Essay Research Paper The
Age Of Reason Essay, Research Paper The age of reason was a time of Empiricism and of Materialism, which brought out philosophers like John Locke and George Berkeley as well as authors like Swift and Pope. These philosophers and authors belong to the Age of Reason because of their use of anti-emotional thought and the idea of Occam’s razor.
Utopian Society Essay Research Paper Animal Farm
Utopian Society Essay, Research Paper Animal Farm, like Brave New World, shows the idea of a Utopia . The animals yearned for their perfect farm where they could run themselves and their work would be rewarded rather than be given more work. It was their idea of a flawless society, where everyone was happy and cooperated.
Frege Against Idealism Essay Research Paper Frege
Frege Against Idealism Essay, Research Paper Frege vs. Idealism In a nut shell Idealism is the position that IDEAS, not objects, are the basis of reality. So for idealists the meaning of an expression is the idea associated with that expression. For example, if one were to think of a lamp , then under the idea theory of reference the visual image that we pull up would be the meaning of the expression lamp .
Hamlet Character Essay Research Paper In the
Hamlet Character Essay, Research Paper In the pay "Hamlet", the main character is a man who wants revenge. He wants it so bad that he becomes obsessed with the idea until it ultimately kills
LOTF Essay Research Paper Introduction
LOTF Essay, Research Paper Introduction The first main problem the boys have in the novel Lord of the Flies is that they are unprepared for survival on an uninhabited
Feminine Mystique Essay Research Paper The Feminine
Feminine Mystique Essay, Research Paper The Feminine Mystique The first couple of chapters of The Feminine Mystique basically points out that there was a major problem that was plaguing America’s female population during the 1950’s. The main idea behind this problem was that women were raised to basically become housewives.
The Klan Essay Research Paper The
The Klan Essay, Research Paper * The Klan name and symbol break through the paper curtain of the anti-White media and brings us to the attention of those who want to
Glass Ceiling Summary Essay Research Paper Utilitarianism
Glass Ceiling Summary Essay, Research Paper Utilitarianism favors unequal treatment in the work place.CONTROLLING IDEA: Big corporations should be forced into applying affirmative action to equal out the male/female ratio in management positions.
Literary Analysis Of A
& P Essay, Research Paper Literary Analysis of A & P The short story A & P, by John Updike, can be broken down into a number of components, which include characters, setting, plot, point of view, and the theme.
TS Eliot Essay Research Paper T S
T.S. Eliot Essay, Research Paper T. S. Eliot – Tradition and the Individual Talent Poets of the present not only have an advantage, but are much smarter than those of the past because they’re still alive.
Utilitarianism The Survival Lottery Essay Research Paper
It is better to give than to receive . I believe I was about nine years old when I heard that statement for the first time . It was in church. It was one of those things that I randomly chose to hear while sitting in church every Sunday. Normally anything that was said in that building never made sense to me and I never had any use for retaining it.
Quality Report Essay Research Paper Main characters
Quality Report Essay, Research Paper Main characters: The main characters are Uncle Beazley the dinosaur, Nate Twitchel the owner of the dinosaur and Doctor Ziemer the scientist. The setting is in Freedom New Hampshire and it is summer there.
Persuasion Speech Essay Research Paper Rob BurkeCom
Persuasion Speech Essay, Research Paper Rob Burke Com 210 Mr. Hunn Persuasion speech Intro: Today I would like to inform you why cigarettes are bad, and why you shouldn?t smoke. Did you know that smoking related deaths total up to the #1 cause of death in peoples. Not only can it effect you personally but it can also harm others around you.
Kant And Utilitarianism Essay Research Paper First
Kant And Utilitarianism Essay, Research Paper First of all I want to state the Kantian and the Utilitarian views butt heads on this issue. The Kantian view is nonconsequential, that is as a matter of
Utilitarianism 2 Essay Research Paper When first
Utilitarianism 2 Essay, Research Paper When first introduced to Utilitarianism one would think that it is pretty straightforward and easy to swallow. Utilitarianism relates to the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Although there are some problems with this theory. In the paragraphs to follow I will illustrate what Utilitarianism is, discuss why it is important to society, and discuss some of the problems related to Utilitarianism.
Mill
’s Utilitarianism Essay, Research Paper “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.
Mr Murder Essay Essay Research Paper MR
Mr Murder Essay Essay, Research Paper MR. MURDER ESSAY For everyone life is filled with mystery, suspense and facing the unknown. In Dean Koontz s book Mr. Murder he does just those things for the main character in the book. He helps us understand that those kinds if things can happen to us.
Client Essay Research Paper The Client
Client Essay, Research Paper ?The Client? / John Grisham 1. I enjoyed reading this interesting book. It talks about eleven years old Mark Sway and his younger
Classical Utilitarianism Essay Research Paper
“Classical Utilitarianism,” by John Rawls This short piece by Rawls makes the point that “utilitarianism does not take seriously the distinction between persons.” This is an intriguing statement and warrants discussion. Rawls view of utilitarianism is that the goal for society is the fulfillment of the maximum satisfaction of all its members.
John Stuart Mills Essay Research Paper Is
John Stuart Mills Essay, Research Paper Is ignorance bliss? Would human beings, without higher thought processes, lead a happier existence? Or, is it better to be a human dissatisfied, than a pig satisfied ?(Mill, 335). These are questions that plagued the mind of John Stuart Mill. These are questions that help us look into ourselves and form our own opinions of pleasure, happiness, and utility.
LAW Ceciro Plato Socrates St Thomas Essay
, Research Paper REVIEWING KEY CONCEPTS 1) Define natural and positive law. Identify the fundamental differences between the theories of natural and positive law. Give an example to illustrate each of these theories.