The morality of abortion has been a persistently debated topic in contemporary American history. The two mainstream positions, pro-life and pro-choice, both base their arguments on assumptions that seem to prevent any resolution. Pro-lifers assert that a fetus is a human being, and since we must not kill human beings, abortion is immoral. On the other hand, pro-choice advocates do not consider the fetus to have the same level of personhood as the mother, and so it is not murder. Pro-choicers deem the mother’s autonomy over her own body to be more important than the potential life a fetus may have, and so they view allowing women to abort to be moral. Although each side seems to purport a black-and-white judgement, abortion does not seemed to
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In 32 states and the District of Columbia, state-level abortion funding is prohibited unless it is in the case of rape or incest or to save the mother’s life. This seems to suggest that people care about the consequences of the act of aborting, but neither position’s core argument uses utilitarianism ethics.
Utilitarianism is a teleological moral theory, meaning a philosophical theory based on the end purpose of all things, that places moral worth of an action based on whether the consequence produces pleasure or suffering. Jeremy Bentham, the father of utilitarianism, says that our moral are grounded in human nature, and that nature has given humans two masters, pleasure and pain. The experience of pleasure and pain motivate and govern human actions, which is evident in how humans naturally seek pleasure and avoid pain. Under utilitarianism, any act in it of itself is morally neutral. The consequentialist principle is that an …show more content…
Actions are not moral if the greatly benefit the agent, but harm other a great deal more. Jeremy Bentham emphasizes that the utility must be calculated for all those affected by the act, not just the agent. Bentham famously said that we ought to seek out the greatest good for the greatest number. The most moral action is the one that maximizes the most pleasure for the most people in a community and minimizes the most pain overall. If one can make the individuals in the community happy, then the community will be happy as a
In 32 states and the District of Columbia, state-level abortion funding is prohibited unless it is in the case of rape or incest or to save the mother’s life. This seems to suggest that people care about the consequences of the act of aborting, but neither position’s core argument uses utilitarianism ethics.
Utilitarianism is a teleological moral theory, meaning a philosophical theory based on the end purpose of all things, that places moral worth of an action based on whether the consequence produces pleasure or suffering. Jeremy Bentham, the father of utilitarianism, says that our moral are grounded in human nature, and that nature has given humans two masters, pleasure and pain. The experience of pleasure and pain motivate and govern human actions, which is evident in how humans naturally seek pleasure and avoid pain. Under utilitarianism, any act in it of itself is morally neutral. The consequentialist principle is that an …show more content…
Actions are not moral if the greatly benefit the agent, but harm other a great deal more. Jeremy Bentham emphasizes that the utility must be calculated for all those affected by the act, not just the agent. Bentham famously said that we ought to seek out the greatest good for the greatest number. The most moral action is the one that maximizes the most pleasure for the most people in a community and minimizes the most pain overall. If one can make the individuals in the community happy, then the community will be happy as a