As a society we depend on the belief and faith in God to keep us going. Many forms of religion pray on this and the idea that God is a higher being able to point humanity in the right direction because no ordinary human can set the authority over ourselves. We have to have someone who knows all right from wrong and is able to do such mighty things without his rules having to be questioned or argued against. We have depended so much on this idea that it has become nearly impossible, in the eyes of most humans, for anyone to live a good life without faith in God or a religion of some sort. In fact, after reading chapter five, “Morality and Religion, in the book, The Fundamentals of Ethics, by Russ Shafer-Landau, it has even become an ethical…
Utilitarianism is based on the consequences resulting from actions. Moral actions solely rely on the resulting consequences. Pleasures vary regarding quality and quantity. However, utilitarianism theory gives the quality aspect an upper hand. “Human beings are not satisfied with pleasures they have because they consider them to be of low quality” (Rosen, 2005.…
In the first two chapters of the textbook “A Practical Companion to Ethics” written by Anthony Weston the author places a strong amount of concentration on the relationship between ethics and religion. Weston wants the reader to understand that although religion has guided us into what we view as morally right it is not the end all decision. Ethics is a rather difficult topic as humankind is constantly evolving and changing, and people often develop rather strong opinions on what is considered to be “right”. It is always possible to be virtuous without religion, however not without set morals or rules. During the Module 1 selection of the book Weston provides lots of clear evidence as to why ethics should not and does not require a religious backing.…
The most recent Presidential election in the United States recently came to a wrap, widely being considered one of the most ridiculous elections of all time. When it was announced that the two Presidential finalists were Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, people all around the world were shocked. With Donald Trump having no experience in politics, and Hillary Clinton previously having been in a political position, but landing herself in hot water for deleting thousands of emails, it seemed that America was almost certainly doomed. With the controversial nature of the candidates, many America citizens decided to remove themselves from the equation completely by not voting at all. If I was an American citizen, I would have done the same thing.…
Tom Morris does a great job of explaining the different challenges of ethics we face on a daily basis. We as a society go through life with so many obstacles to overcome, and yet society has shown us that most of the time the obstacles dictate the outcome. We read Tom’s book which gives us so many categories to help us better understand the ethical actions people take during certain situations. The first part of this chapter starts us off with the title, what are the rules now, anyway? As we read this statement alone it relates to society in such a big way.…
Moral Theory Of Utilitarianism. The moral theory of Utilitarianism is defined as to be that an action is only good only if it brings happiness to others. There are three sub principles that define the theory of Utilitarianism, Principle one talks about how consequences are all that matter in a situation or an action, that the final outcome/ results are those that matter. The second principle states that happiness is the only thing that matters and that we seek for pleasure more often and we hate to have pain.…
In fact, Baker Bill, (24), asserts that in Utilitarian theory, “the good is measured in terms of consequences of the action.” However, Chonko Larry (5) splits utilitarian theory…
Utilitarianism is interesting because it takes primarily a consequentialist approach to ethic looking at the ends to something and looks at the pros or cons of an action, or what causes the most happiness versus the amount of generating pain from an action. Even though it sounds simple to compare the amount of happiness versus pain the equation that we have to use for utilitarianism does not always work the that it should and other flaws that we will go over in this essay taking an unusual stance on the matter, questioning the utility monster but also criticizes utilitarianism later but also saying that it is the best that we have currently have. The idea of a utility monster is not a valid objection against utilitarianism and can be worked…
Stealing to survive How would a utilitarian respond to the dilemma of stealing to survive? Utilitarianism is a normative theory and a teleological approach to morality. The theory states that motives do not matter and that the consequences are the only thing that should make you carry out an act. The foundation of utilitarianism is the Greatest Happiness Principle which has three sections.…
Utilitarianism is considered as one of the most prominent philosophical concepts. This model's core perspective emphasizes that actions are ethically acceptable or unacceptable depending on their consequences. Based on this understanding, it can be argued that utilitarians hold that the goal of morality is to improve life by enhancing some favorable things such as happiness in the world while minimizing undesirable aspects such as grief (Urmson, 33). Consequently, the core objective of this essay is to define and critique both Act and Rule Utilitarianism, as well as determine the most practical kind of utilitarianism.…
If George acts and takes the job, he compromises his integrity. If he fails to act, the other man with lower morals gets the job and he aids the destruction of others and his integrity is still compromised. In this example, both paths can lead to negative consequences and possibly degrade George’s personal integrity but it would be better for him to act and take the job to support his family, thus not acting would have larger…
Ethical Framework Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that I feel aligned to personally. Utilitarianism states that the ethical choice is the one that provides the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people, even if that choice isn’t the best for everyone. Much of our politics are conducted using this approach, making decisions and laws that increase the amount of good while also reducing the amount of harm that is done. I believe this to be the most practical approach to most situations, especially when it comes to government. This is because it is virtually impossible to meet the needs or wants of every single person, so doing the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people is ultimately what is best for the community.…
Bernard Williams’s example of the moral dilemma involving Jim killing the one individual to save 19 is an interesting one that provokes much thought and it is a decision that utilitarian followers would find quite easy. Utilitarian’s subscribe to the view that everything that you do or do not do should be for the sake of maximizing total happiness, or utility. But individuals who subscribe to a different moral philosophy could potentially have a myriad of ethical concerns associated with making such a decision. In this paper, I will explain the moral dilemma that is presented in Bernard Williams’s piece, hypothesize what the utilitarian would do in that situation, why they would choose to do that. I will also demonstrate why Williams’s dilemma provides valid evidence to reject utilitarianism on the grounds that it weakens a person’s integrity, sense of responsibility, and their moral character.…
There are not a lot of instances, in which dying is a better option than the pain one is currently going through. We know the possible pleasures that await us, and these outweigh the current struggles or problems that we may be facing. Looking at how these affect our actions, though, is a way to think about why Utilitarianism is flawed. Just as each human holds their own life important, they too can be thought of as holding their decisions as important. Bernard Williams, in “Utilitarianism and Integrity”, recognizes this concept.…
Over the first 4 weeks of this class we have had many class discussions and readings, which have brought up a great deal of thinking. The class name Organization Ethics and Decision-making, speaks for itself when it comes to the things that can be talked about in this class. Our world is changing each and everyday and you have to stay on top of the way things are. In this reflection essay I will hit on different topics and speak in different ways that ethical decisions and value systems work and how my view and knowledge on these have changed. Each individual will go about making decisions in a way that he or she sees fit based on there beliefs and teaching.…