John Stewart Mill wrote a collection of essays that were compiled into one book entitled Utilitarianism. The book shares a title with the name of Mill’s ethical philosophy. The central theme of utilitarianism is to bring the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number, that number including anyone or anything that can feel pleasure and pain. This theme has many facets, which Mill’s expresses in his book, and many applications. There are also those who criticize and have found weaknesses in this philosophy. To understand how the guidelines of utilitarianism would affect the decision made in terms of the Trolley Problem, we must first fully examine Mill’s philosophy.
Mill equates Utility to what he calls the “Greatest Happiness …show more content…
The Trolley Problem presents an opportunity to kill one, or let five die, but when applying the guidelines of utility, the answer seems clear. It would be better to save the five and kill the one because the greatest amount if happiness for the greatest number could only be achieved if the greatest number are saved, the five. The sacrifice of the one would be noble, although it would a forced sacrifice, because the death of that one person would cause the happiness of five others. If we were to consider the concept of pleasure according to Mill, we might find an ethical dilemma of how choosing to kill the one may affect the conscience of the bystander pulling the lever. If pulling the lever to save five people causes greater suffering for the bystander than allowing the five to die, it may be against utilitarian principles to pull the lever. Similarly, the case of the surgeon would be justified in the same way. To harvest the organs of one man for the happiness of the five patients who would be saved is justifiable under utilitarian principles, but the surgeon may not be able to live with himself knowing he killed a perfectly healthy and innocent man, especially if the patients did not survive the surgery. Even so, the sacrifice of the happiness of the bystander or surgeon to save the five people could be considered a noble and virtuous act, in which case the suffering of the bystander would be worth the happiness of those
Mill equates Utility to what he calls the “Greatest Happiness …show more content…
The Trolley Problem presents an opportunity to kill one, or let five die, but when applying the guidelines of utility, the answer seems clear. It would be better to save the five and kill the one because the greatest amount if happiness for the greatest number could only be achieved if the greatest number are saved, the five. The sacrifice of the one would be noble, although it would a forced sacrifice, because the death of that one person would cause the happiness of five others. If we were to consider the concept of pleasure according to Mill, we might find an ethical dilemma of how choosing to kill the one may affect the conscience of the bystander pulling the lever. If pulling the lever to save five people causes greater suffering for the bystander than allowing the five to die, it may be against utilitarian principles to pull the lever. Similarly, the case of the surgeon would be justified in the same way. To harvest the organs of one man for the happiness of the five patients who would be saved is justifiable under utilitarian principles, but the surgeon may not be able to live with himself knowing he killed a perfectly healthy and innocent man, especially if the patients did not survive the surgery. Even so, the sacrifice of the happiness of the bystander or surgeon to save the five people could be considered a noble and virtuous act, in which case the suffering of the bystander would be worth the happiness of those