Facts: William sued Swine, Inc. for unlawful age discrimination. William won the suit and was awarded $4.5 million. William’s attorney fees of $1.5 million were directly paid to the attorney. William filed taxes for the $3 million that he received, but did not include the attorney fees. The IRS audited William and asserted that the other $1.5 million awarded should have been included in William’s gross income and the attorney fees should have been expensed as miscellaneous itemized deduction and subject to the 2% floor.…
What is the moral theory of utilitarianism? According to Vaughn, “[Utilitarianism is] the view that right actions are those that result in the greatest overall happiness for everyone involved” (Vaughn, 79). At face value such a moral theory sounds great, because it should promote general happiness. While this is true, a particular argument, the telishment argument, shows that utilitarianism is not a viable moral theory because it promotes decisions that run contrary to historical moral inclinations. To prove this is the case, this paper will first dive into what happiness means in the utilitarian sense, the telishment argument itself, what points of contention the tellishment argument brings up against utilitarianism, and finally, what utilitarianism has to say in its own defense.…
As stated before Utilitarianism describes that we as a society attempt to find pleasure…
Classical utilitarianism involved the levels of a person’s well-being based on the amount of pleasure and pain. Now, Brad Hooker’s idea of utilitarian involves more than just pleasure and pain, it also contributes knowledge and autonomy. He also believes that death does not always have to be a bad thing. It could lead to what is right for the person’s well-being (Hooker 77). There are two types of utilitarianism.…
Regan did not consider virtue ethics an adequate theory, as he believes that the virtuous action is not always the right action. As for the theory of utilitarianism, Tom Regan considers two principles of utilitarianism: that is the principles of equality and utility. Utilitarianism believes the animals belong to the sentient beings with equally weighted interest. However, this argument is not sufficient for the author as his view is more radical. In order to prove his opinion of utilitarianism, he cites the example of Aunt Bea.…
Mill defines utilitarianism as “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness,” (484) He then begins to explain that happiness is the absence of pain, and pain is the absence of pleasure. He refers to utilitarianism as the Greatest Happiness Principle. Many people that disagreed with Mill’s definition of utilitarianism insulted his work by stating it as a “doctrine worthy only of swine,” (Mill 485). Mill responds to this attack by stating “...for if the sources of pleasure were precisely the same to human beings and to swine, the rule of which is good enough for the one would be good enough for the other,” (Mill 485). Mill responds to this insult by comparing human…
In the essay “An Argument for Animalism” by Eric T. Olson, he concludes that personal identity is psychological continuity. I will disagree with Olson’s ideas about personal identity in the brain-transplant and the thinking-animal argument. The main point of the paper is about animalism. Olson’s argument is that each one of us is numerically identical to a human animal. Olson says that a person could exist who is not numerically identical to any animal, but it’s not the case for you and I. Olson, then presents his ‘Thinking-Animal Argument’ and the alternatives to that.…
What is Utilitarianism? Utilitarianism is a philosophical concept that holds an action to be held right if it tends to promote happiness for the greatest number of people. Utilitarian’s define the morally right actions as those actions that maximize happiness and minimize misery. Many believe that utilitarianism is an unrealistic theory. Arguments and responses to utilitarianism being too demanding have been made John Stuart Mill and Peter Singer.…
The Argument of Utilitarianism In “Utilitarianism” John Stuart Mill presents the case of Utilitarianism as a moral theory. Moral theories are structured as a set of statements used to predict a set of factors or concept. Moral theories are thought to be universal and tell which action is the right one in any given situation. Utilitarianism is one the most influential and best known moral theories, often called “The Greatest Happiness Principles”.…
In efforts to find summum bonum or the ultimate good, philosophers during the 20th century began to investigate ethical issues, and tried to create their own versions of an ideal moral code. During this time, John Stuart Mill and Peter Singer base their ethical beliefs in the philosophy of utilitarianism. Both Mill’s essay Utilitarianism and Singer’s work Famine, Affluence and Morality explore the pursuit of happiness and its relation to moral philosophy. The doctrine of utilitarianism emphasizes the consequences of one’s actions as they add to the sum total of happiness.…
When time is of the essence, utilitarianism can be a guide when we need to make a moral decision. It allows us to think with her heart and emotions, and not just our brains. This is what makes us different from animals and has enabled us to evolve into the people we are today. Utilitarianism allows people to live a happier life because they can make the choices that are best for them, their friends, and…
One of the major theories in philosophy is utilitarianism, which strives for producing the most amount of happiness. The utilitarian approach is based on the simple doctrine that if an action is ethical and it brings happiness to an individual or a group of people without causing pain, then it is acceptable. One of the main emphasis of utilitarianism is animal rights. It primarily focuses on the treatment of animals and how they should be treated more humanely. The paper will discuss utilitarian’s beliefs and whether they require people to stop eating animals and experimenting on them.…
When a friend constantly tells me, I look “gorgeous and you’re not fat”. However, in reality, I am self-conscious and I gained a lot of weight. This is a lie, the reason she tells me this is because she wants to help boost my confidence and not hurt my feelings. She knows that I am self-conscious about my appearance. Nevertheless, hearing it constantly doesn’t help me, but makes me feel more self-conscious of my body and hurts my emotions.…
Utilitarianism is a normative moral approach to ethics that tries to maximise the pleasure and minimises the amount of pain in given a situation. John Stuart Mill analysis the principle of Utility, Utility meaning ‘happiness’. Mill often thought it was important that in any given situation that happiness is supposed to continue to be uplifted (Mill, 1864 p.9). Mill examines, that happiness is the ultimate end in which every human lives their life to, and so anything has to be a means for that end to happen (Mill, 1864 p.52). In linguistic terms, it can be described as a “’theory of usefulness’”…
It looks at what is morally right and wrong and their consequences. Depending on the pros and cons of this discussion, a utilitarian would choose the option that gives the most pleasure or happiness or “maximizes utility” (Rachels). Topics that are evaluated by this can include moral codes, laws, policies, etc. One of the biggest benefits of utilitarianism is the idea that the approach makes a decision on a case-by-case basis. Classical utilitarianism can be summed up in three statements: 1.…