“One Murder made a Villain / Millions a Hero.”
– Death: A Poetical Essay by Beilby Porteus, 1759
Utilitarianism. Jeremy Bentham first coined the modern interpretation of utilitarianism in 1812, as a “defined utility as the aggregate pleasure after deducting suffering of all involved in any action,” or in simpler terms, the most good for the most amount of people, serving to maximize pleasures and/or minimize suffering. How did a moral based principle created by a social reformer, less than a century later, not only root but also advocate for greatest crime against humanity: genocide? Genocide represents an aspect of theoretician murder that is integrated in societal disasters and the exclusive unity of the majority; rooted in developed negative …show more content…
As Cynthia Ozick stated in her New Yorker essay, “The philosopher is the one with the murder.” Genocide is never just illogical, unlinked murder madness; it is where patriotisms bleeds into nationalism which bleeds into a political utopia, promising one people, one land, and a singular truth. At times of national distress, this is the idea that tempts majorities to oppress and, in extreme cases, exterminate differing religious, political, ethnic, and racial groups within a society, in exchange for the hope that the previous distress and disaster will go away. This is where the idea of utilitarianism, completely detached from its classical roots, comes in, a riddance of a small minority for the power and success of the rest.
This is first seen in “Crime and Punishment’s” protagonist, Raskolnikov, whose primary justification for killing the pawnbroker is based off the nihilistic and utilitarianistic views. She was a miserable old lady who just stole from impoverished people, and by killing her, he could take the money and actually do good, therefore, doing the world a greater favor. His rationale is quickly rejected as he just hides the money once he obtains it, but the idea of committing a heinous crime for a common good seems to spread throughout
– Death: A Poetical Essay by Beilby Porteus, 1759
Utilitarianism. Jeremy Bentham first coined the modern interpretation of utilitarianism in 1812, as a “defined utility as the aggregate pleasure after deducting suffering of all involved in any action,” or in simpler terms, the most good for the most amount of people, serving to maximize pleasures and/or minimize suffering. How did a moral based principle created by a social reformer, less than a century later, not only root but also advocate for greatest crime against humanity: genocide? Genocide represents an aspect of theoretician murder that is integrated in societal disasters and the exclusive unity of the majority; rooted in developed negative …show more content…
As Cynthia Ozick stated in her New Yorker essay, “The philosopher is the one with the murder.” Genocide is never just illogical, unlinked murder madness; it is where patriotisms bleeds into nationalism which bleeds into a political utopia, promising one people, one land, and a singular truth. At times of national distress, this is the idea that tempts majorities to oppress and, in extreme cases, exterminate differing religious, political, ethnic, and racial groups within a society, in exchange for the hope that the previous distress and disaster will go away. This is where the idea of utilitarianism, completely detached from its classical roots, comes in, a riddance of a small minority for the power and success of the rest.
This is first seen in “Crime and Punishment’s” protagonist, Raskolnikov, whose primary justification for killing the pawnbroker is based off the nihilistic and utilitarianistic views. She was a miserable old lady who just stole from impoverished people, and by killing her, he could take the money and actually do good, therefore, doing the world a greater favor. His rationale is quickly rejected as he just hides the money once he obtains it, but the idea of committing a heinous crime for a common good seems to spread throughout