Ethical Framework Of Utilitarianism

Ethical Framework
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that I feel aligned to personally. Utilitarianism states that the ethical choice is the one that provides the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people, even if that choice isn’t the best for everyone. Much of our politics are conducted using this approach, making decisions and laws that increase the amount of good while also reducing the amount of harm that is done. I believe this to be the most practical approach to most situations, especially when it comes to government. This is because it is virtually impossible to meet the needs or wants of every single person, so doing the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people is ultimately what is best for the community. …show more content…
Take marijuana legalization for example, a controversial topic that people can’t really seem to agree on but is becoming more prevalent as states gradually legalize it to some degree. From a utilitarian point of view, it really depends on your personal opinions on marijuana; this is where we run into the problems with this ethical theory being very subjective. There are many pros to the legalization of marijuana, such as the increased tax revenue, federal regulations making it safer, wider availability for medicinal uses, less drug dealers selling to minors, more time and money for police officers to spend on serious/violent crimes. There are also cons like brain damage, second hand smoke, high levels of carcinogens, and its status as a gateway drug. Again, a fair amount of these pros and cons are subjective in nature. From my utilitarian perspective, legalizing marijuana definitely does the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people. Many see marijuana usage as a “victimless crime” and I would have to agree with that. Cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption have been proven to cause various serious health and social problems yet they are perfectly legal and regulated, marijuana can have serious health benefits, especially for those with chronic disorders. People have been smoking pot …show more content…
The main reason being that I pride myself on living an ethical life. I'm not perfect by any means; I have made mistakes, conscious unethical choices, and done wrong by people just as anyone else does in their life. But I think what is important is to learn from the mistakes, mature, and continue to develop your ethics along the way. I think that the biggest thing on my moral bucket list is the call within the call. I have ideas of what I would like to do with my life, probably go into the field of environmental science as I am currently working on, getting a job with the government and trying to do a little good for our environment during my time in this world. Maybe I take the artistic route after college and train to be a tattoo artist or tradesman, but that is the career side of things. I want to find my calling and I hope that I do one day, but that is something that I believe happens naturally, must be recognized and may not even happen at all. Another thing that I have on my moral bucket list is finding energizing love. I think that this is something that can be very hard to find, but is also one of the most important ingredients for living a happy and healthy life. There are many possible ethical situations that can come up in any career. I want to go in the environmental field, so lets say that I make my way up to some level of importance and I'm dealing with an oil company. This oil company is over their