Consequence Ethics

Improved Essays
Consequence ethics is focusing on what gives the best overall good for the greatest amount of people. If so, does that mean it is okay for a smaller amount of people to suffer for the greater good? A consequentialist ought to act according to what produces the largest amount of pleasure, and therefor he has to defy that some people will have to suffer for it, if the outcome produces more well-being. There is a case considered a problem with distributing resources in a community from Julia Driver’s book Ethics the Fundamentals. There is a town with a population consisting of 100 people. In this society, 75 of the people are working really hard, while the other 25 people can relax and enjoy a rich life and develop their own intellects. By taking …show more content…
If the happiness were to be divided equally between work and luxury, 40 units of happiness each, and therefor equally happiness, the total would be 4000 units of happiness and that is less. Therefor the total of the society’s happiness would be less if the justice were distributed equally. The case where the 75 people work hard and the 25 other live a life of luxury, if the justice were divided equally it would be 44,75, which is more. Therefor a utilitarian would say that the case where 75 people work hard and 25 don’t is better than if it was equal, because it makes the most happiness. To pull in the Kantian view in this case, it would be totally wrong to think like this. It means that the 25 people are benefitting of all the 75 other hard-working people as a means for their own happiness, and not as an end. (Driver: 62). On the other hand, not all utilitarians would agree with this, because of the respect for each individual’s distinctness. This would be the rule utilitarian, who believes that you ought to follow the rules I mentioned

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    3.6: Ethical Considerations: Ethical approval was sought and granted by the Faculty of Health Sciences Institutional Review Board. The study procedure (information to be collected, test to be done and any likely adverse effect; pain from needle during sample collection) was explained in details to each prospective participants. An information notice was given to them as well as a written consent form they were required to sign if they accepted to be part of the study or a verbal consent if they could neither read nor write. For adolescents, assent was gotten from their parents or legal care takers. Patients diagnosed during December 2016 and as well those in the prospective phase, were called to either inform them about the study (its objectves,…

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Deontological Ethics

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Formalism. According to Albanese (2014), Emmanuel Kant creation of deontological ethics means the ethics of a process is driven, either it accommodates to or breaches a moral basis. Deontology plays a very important role in law enforcement. The ethical intent when determining and accessing a situation officer’s face is important when trying to solve the outcome. Kant believed the main primary focus was the action not the outcome or end result.…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Utilitarianism Utilitarianism principles support the idea that decisions must be based on what will benefit the largest number of people. Each person’s actions are added to the overall utility of the community impacted by those actions. Utilitarianism is focus on the net result of their actions instead of the means or motives that generated the reason for their actions. It is doing by intrinsic rewards which the personal satisfaction from benefiting others.…

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ethical Decision-Making

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Chapter Three introduces some of the ethical principle and issues that will be a foundational part of professional practice; ethical decision making will be of importance throughout the professional life of a therapist. Most people think of ethics as a list of rules and prohibitions that results in sanctions and malpractice actions if practitioners do not follow them. There are three different types of ethics: mandatory, aspirational, and positive. Mandatory ethics involves a level of ethical functioning at the minimum level of practice. Aspirational ethics focuses on doing what is in the best interest of clients.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In 2015, CEO of Gravity Payments Dan Price, announced his decision to raise the minimum wage of his employees to $70,000 USD over the next 3 years. Dan Price made this decision after reading a happiness study from Princeton that stated employees wellbeing and happiness rose with income increases up to $75,000 USD per year (at which point income stopped affecting happiness.) To fund these increases, the CEO dramatically reduced his salary from $1 Million USD to $70,000 USD and is projecting higher profits in the coming years (O’Brien, 2015). Critics of the decision have been some internal employees who did not think it was fair that their colleagues with less skills and education had their wages raised to the same level as them. Other CEO’s…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to Mill “Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (John Stuart Mill). In its simplest form utilitarianism can be defined as actions morally permissible if and only if they produce at least as much net happiness as any other available action. Its core idea is that whether actions are morally right or wrong depends on their effects. When making a decision for one’s self he/she must consider what will bring themselves the most happiness. When making a decision that will affects other…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Usual Morals Analysis

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are many theories that circulate about why criminals commit crimes. Rational choice theory is one of these theories in Criminology. To explain, rational choice theory is the belief that an individual thinks through their cost and benefits, and weight their Therefore, based on that, they make a choice (Lilly, 2012, pp. 362-363). In the movie The Usual Suspects, there is many instances where there is criminal’s activity is taking place.…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ethical Summary

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The use of new age technology and smartphones in the clinical setting have both advantages and potential ethical dilemmas. The ability to send a photo of a current patient’s condition in real time can aid in the direction of their care, but also lends itself to many ethical questions. The article reviewed “Ethical considerations of clinical photography in an area of emerging technology and smartphones” by Van der Rijt & Hoffman (2014). The ethical issues presented in the article brings up the question of a proper consent and the use of secure data storage of patient specific information. The article offers the idea of using technology to its fullest as long as the healthcare institution does not put progress before its responsibility to…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People who are mentally ill and commit crimes are able to get therapy rather than be punished. There are multiple ideologies that argue whether or not therapy should be an option. For example, the idea of Utilitarianism is to promote the greatest amount of happiness possible. In this essay, I will be arguing that Utilitarianism supports the idea of therapy because it brings greater happiness for the many, it allows society to help those who refused to be helped, and there is no “right” and “wrong” in treating those who don’t want to be treated. Utilitarianism’s main focus is to do whatever brings about the most happiness and do least of whatever brings unhappiness.…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the semester, we have repeatedly discussed statistics regarding current crime and incarceration rates. In comparison to previous rates, from earlier decades, it is clear that society’s viewpoint on crime has changed significantly. Beginning in the early 1970s, the United States initiated a more punitive criminal justice system (1). In The Punishment Imperative, authors Todd R. Clear and Natasha A. Frost created a concept for the reasoning behind this mass incarceration. Referred to as the “Punishment Imperative,” its basis for reasoning focused on the symbolic image that crime held in society; meaning, as crime rates grew, the societal fear for basic safety began to emerge.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Endorse Virtue Theory

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The mind frame of this utilitarian is to go and take the curve about route because the conductor would rather kill one person and sacrifice the five workers due to the happiness for the greatness number of people. How is that justified? The conductor is still killing an innocent person and now the conductor’s family has to mourn the death of their loved one, but in the conductor mind frame it is justified because the lives of five workers were saved instead. No matter how you look at one worker still lost their life at the end of the day! The alternative that is more adequate is virtue ethics.…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The doctrine focuses on the consequences of actions as they aim to increase the happiness of the whole. Peter Singer goes on to apply the utilitarian doctrine to assert that people have an obligation to alleviate distant human suffering. Overall, utilitarianism highlights the importance of putting the happiness of others before your own. One may argue that utilitarianism cannot be applied to society because humans are inherently self-interested. However, utilitarianism can still be applied if all people see each other as equals, and recognize that everyone’s happiness is equally…

    • 1033 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While using the Utilitarianism theory, a utilitarian could dispute that women who qualify for the same job function with equivalent experience or education should be paid either equally or fairly. The consequence would not only help women with the same employment opportunities; it would benefit society and create a cause for the greater good of everyone. Mill’s believes if these values lead to reflection of the given utility it will result to maximizing pleasure, and if the consequences are the same, then equality should then be warranted (p. 22). Nonetheless, a practical utilitarian would consider the triumphs that will produce a result that would be satisfactory for all parties involved.…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Situational ethics is the approach that an act can’t be classed as right or wrong/ good or evil without first taking into account the influencing factors of that situation. it is based around the Christian principle of agape; which is a selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love and that the demands of love can run contrary to the law (Wells and Quash, 2010). The founder of situational ethics was Joseph Fletcher, who introduced it in his book “Situation Ethics – The New Morality”. If a person decides that an act is wrong without taking into account the influencing factors and if a person bases a decision not on the outcome but on whether the decision is right or wrong they will be going against situational ethics.…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Ethical theories and principles provide the foundation for all ethical behavior.1There are three ethical laws, Deontology, Consequentialism, and Virtue ethics. These ethical theories, each emphasizes different viewpoints on how to reach a resolution according to the guidelines defined within the theory itself, and they act as a viewpoint on which guidance is obtained towards a decision. The term deontology comes from the Greek word deon, meaning duty.2 The theory of Deontology states that some acts are always wrong regardless of the outcome and people or society at large are judged by their actions and not the outcome of those actions.…

    • 1313 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays