Powell, Kaitlin R.
21 October 2015
Ethics Midterm Paper Growing up, our guardians instill in us the difference between right and wrong. While we are developing, our role models teach us a moral code that is meant to be followed. They tell us things like “don’t lie”, “don’t steal”, etc. These things become our basis for action regarding the world around us. Our actions become our morality. Ethics is the study of morality--how humans ought to act. It is the study of morality, prudence (what is in our best interest), and their several relations. Different societies have different cultural norms, which means that morality, or what is considered right or wrong, for one society will be different for another culture. For example, let’s take into …show more content…
Two of these theories are Utilitarianism and Kantianism. These theories would handle identical situations differently. Utilitarianism says that that action is right which produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. The goal of utilitarianism is to maximize utility. In order to do this, an action must maximize pleasure for the greatest number, and minimize pain for the greatest number. Utilitarianism is based off of the idea that we serve two sovereign masters: pleasure and pain. This means that everything we do in life we do in order to increase pleasure and decrease pain. Utilitarianism is broken up further into two categories: consequentialism and hedonism. Consequentialism is the idea that actions are right and wrong based only on their consequences. In this view, the motive does not matter. Hedonism, on the other hand, states that the only thing that has intrinsic value, or value in itself, is pleasure. These two views within utilitarianism share the main goal: to maximize pleasure and reduce …show more content…
Perhaps the biggest difference is outcome versus intention. Utilitarianism focuses on the outcome of an action. When evaluating if the outcome promotes more pleasure than pain, the utilitarianist would look at the outcome of the situation. If someone did do a moral thing, it would not matter if they did it out of their own selfish motivation, as long as it promoted the most good in that given situation. To a Kantian, on the other hand, the only concern with the action would be the intentions of the person who does the action. If their intentions come from a good will, the act would be moral; if their intentions were selfish or malice, the act would be
21 October 2015
Ethics Midterm Paper Growing up, our guardians instill in us the difference between right and wrong. While we are developing, our role models teach us a moral code that is meant to be followed. They tell us things like “don’t lie”, “don’t steal”, etc. These things become our basis for action regarding the world around us. Our actions become our morality. Ethics is the study of morality--how humans ought to act. It is the study of morality, prudence (what is in our best interest), and their several relations. Different societies have different cultural norms, which means that morality, or what is considered right or wrong, for one society will be different for another culture. For example, let’s take into …show more content…
Two of these theories are Utilitarianism and Kantianism. These theories would handle identical situations differently. Utilitarianism says that that action is right which produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. The goal of utilitarianism is to maximize utility. In order to do this, an action must maximize pleasure for the greatest number, and minimize pain for the greatest number. Utilitarianism is based off of the idea that we serve two sovereign masters: pleasure and pain. This means that everything we do in life we do in order to increase pleasure and decrease pain. Utilitarianism is broken up further into two categories: consequentialism and hedonism. Consequentialism is the idea that actions are right and wrong based only on their consequences. In this view, the motive does not matter. Hedonism, on the other hand, states that the only thing that has intrinsic value, or value in itself, is pleasure. These two views within utilitarianism share the main goal: to maximize pleasure and reduce …show more content…
Perhaps the biggest difference is outcome versus intention. Utilitarianism focuses on the outcome of an action. When evaluating if the outcome promotes more pleasure than pain, the utilitarianist would look at the outcome of the situation. If someone did do a moral thing, it would not matter if they did it out of their own selfish motivation, as long as it promoted the most good in that given situation. To a Kantian, on the other hand, the only concern with the action would be the intentions of the person who does the action. If their intentions come from a good will, the act would be moral; if their intentions were selfish or malice, the act would be