There are two different forms of utilitarianism, rule utilitarianism which creates general rules in society which are beneficial to society as a whole whereas act utilitarianism bases this off of every individual act. Basing a moral action on its consequences can have drawbacks. Since an exchange of 3,000 people for the cure of cancer and aids would be beneficial to a much greater number of people than the 3,000 who were exchanged it would be justifiable. However, according to Fundamentals of Philosophy, “John Stuart Mill argued strongly in his book On Liberty against any kind of infringement of the rights of minorities, and his basic argument was based on the claim that a society will be more peaceful and therefore happier if maximum liberty is extended to all members of society, and a more harmonious society will promote the general welfare and happiness” (293)2. Despite Mill’s efforts to deny such a claim, it is likely utilitarian’s would be in favor of the trade. This is because even if there was a rule system in place, ranking individual liberty as a top priority, it would likely be argued that because both deal with lives as well as being torturous to the individual, the logical option for a utilitarian would be to choose them over the 3,000 individual. …show more content…
David H. Stewart, Gene Blocker, and James M. Petrik, Fundamentals of Philosophy, (Pearson, 2013) 301
2. Stewart, Blocker, Petrick, Fundamentals of Philosophy, 293
3. Ibid., 304
4. Dr. Nathan Friend, Ethics Lecture
5. Stewart, Blocker, Petrick, Fundamentals of Philosophy, 279
6. Ibid., 286
Bibliography 2. Friend, Nathan, Dr. "Ethics Lecture." Video File. Accessed January 07, 2018.
3. Stewart, David, H. Gene Blocker, and James M. Petrik. Fundamentals of Philosophy. Boston: Pearson,