There are numerous political philosophies that are employed in today’s government, one such philosophy is utilitarianism. It was originally conceived by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and later revised by John S. Mill (1806-1873). The dates alone should be considered with regards to this philosophy, which should altogether be abolished in the realms of government by reason of flawed thinking. This paper will explore a couple of examples on the ways in which utilitarianism has been used in both the government and judicial sectors and while some believe that a utilitarian view keeps Americans safe, in reality it is an outdated and destructive to America’s well-being. The central theme of utilitarian concepts in government is primarily consequentialism.
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Those being that the American government can be justified for the abuses in power and ultimate sacrifice to civil liberties by use of fear, coercion, deception and control or perhaps, for safety, health and concern. These are primarily the negative effects of utilitarian philosophy seen in Government. However, it has resulted in positive outcomes, there are many examples to this, but conceivably none as important as the vaccination programs, which have saved countless lives and prevented, stalled, or eliminated many diseases that once plagued the …show more content…
Also, purely judging an action by the outcome is hard to do beforehand. Similarly it is rather difficult to quantify pleasures for cost/benefit analysis, granted this only has to be done on a comparative scale, so some may not consider this as serious of an objection. More importantly the calculation required to determine what is indeed right is both complicated and time consuming. Many occasions will not permit the time and many individuals may not even be capable of the calculations. Keeping these points in mind it brings all of this back to the basis of utilitarianism, which, is the greatest good for the greatest number is described in aggregate terms, so that good may be achieved under conditions that are harmful to some, just so long as that harm is balanced by a greater good(Ethical Issues,p.95) . However in this theory it fails to acknowledge any individual rights that could not be violated for the sake of the greatest good. Indeed, just as acts of torture or the violation of civil liberties even the murder of an innocent person could seem worthy if in the end it served the greater
Those being that the American government can be justified for the abuses in power and ultimate sacrifice to civil liberties by use of fear, coercion, deception and control or perhaps, for safety, health and concern. These are primarily the negative effects of utilitarian philosophy seen in Government. However, it has resulted in positive outcomes, there are many examples to this, but conceivably none as important as the vaccination programs, which have saved countless lives and prevented, stalled, or eliminated many diseases that once plagued the …show more content…
Also, purely judging an action by the outcome is hard to do beforehand. Similarly it is rather difficult to quantify pleasures for cost/benefit analysis, granted this only has to be done on a comparative scale, so some may not consider this as serious of an objection. More importantly the calculation required to determine what is indeed right is both complicated and time consuming. Many occasions will not permit the time and many individuals may not even be capable of the calculations. Keeping these points in mind it brings all of this back to the basis of utilitarianism, which, is the greatest good for the greatest number is described in aggregate terms, so that good may be achieved under conditions that are harmful to some, just so long as that harm is balanced by a greater good(Ethical Issues,p.95) . However in this theory it fails to acknowledge any individual rights that could not be violated for the sake of the greatest good. Indeed, just as acts of torture or the violation of civil liberties even the murder of an innocent person could seem worthy if in the end it served the greater