Factory Farming Cases: An Analysis

In the book titled, “Ethical Choices: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy with Cases” by Richard Burnor and Yvonne Raley, there is a phrase that states, “The good of the many outweighs the good of the few, or the one”(119). This phrase, describes exactly what Act Utilitarianism is about. The case presented in chapter seven of this book about the suffering of animals in the process of factory farming is a perfect example of how, when one, based on the consequences or effects of the each choice, can analyzes each possible choice, so one can figure out which will be the best choice that will produce the greatest amount of overall utility and solve the problem. If one applies the theories of Act Utilitarianism to this case, one can come to the conclusion that, factory farming creates the greatest amount of overall utility. Therefore, factory farming is morally right, because the benefits that this type of farming brings, or in other words, the amount of overall utility that factory farming brings to humans, outweighs the suffering that this type of farming might cause to the animals. First of all, this case presented, can be analyzed using Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarian …show more content…
Therefore, the process of killing the animals is considered morally right, even though the animals might possible experience some sort of pain and or suffering. Not to mention, the benefits that factory farming brings such as affordable prices, savings for the consumers and higher profits for the business owner, outweighs the outrageous consequences that not using this type of farming, could cause.These animals being killed feed millions of Americans, and their death produces the greatest overall utility that benefit almost all of the American