The Pros And Cons Of Utilitarianism

Being in a situation where you have to decide someone else’s fate has proved time and time again to be a tricky and difficult decision. For example, in situations where a patient loses decision-making abilities a healthcare proxy is called in to make medical decisions for them. Michael Friedman was a man that agreed to become his mother’s health care proxy and had to come to a decision for his mother to not go on with a life-altering surgery. He states that, “I was uncomfortable about making this decision for her” and “I was emotionally distressed to let my mother die without a fight to preserve her life” (Huffington Post, 9/21/16). With these difficult situations you should weigh out the risks and see which decision is better for the …show more content…
What is considered ‘right’ and ‘just’ is determined by maximizing happiness and minimizing pain. For this situation in particular, utilitarianism proves to be the right answer. However, utilitarianism isn’t always the morally-correct way to decide something. Utilitarianism prompts scapegoating by giving the majority the privilege of determining the future, no matter the cost of for the “lesser amount.” By using utilitarianism’s judgement it leaves out responsibility. The idea of responsibilities, and/or duties, is shown through the theory of deontology. Deontology says that no matter what the circumstance is, your answer is based not upon the consequence of the action but the morality of the action, or duty, itself. Some examples of such duties could be do not steal, do not kill, etc. Much like how Sandel brings up in his Harvard lecture, “the intrinsic quality or character of the act matters morally...certain things are just categorically wrong, even if they bring about a good result” (The Moral Side of Murder with Michael Sandel, 9/4/09). For instance, say 1000 people on the street want to kill one person. Based on utilitarianism, to maximize happiness you would follow in with what the 1000 people said and kill the one person. On the other hand, by using deontology, you would say murder is wrong and you wouldn’t condone either option. While cases vary, utilitarianism seems …show more content…
The idea of utilitarianism , as stated in the Harvard lecture, is known as “ the greatest good for the greatest number” (The Moral Side of Murder with Michael Sandel, 9/4/09). So in the given situation, one death is better than five deaths, and thus explains the decision making behind choosing to continue driving in the same