Utilitarianism Response Paper

Response Paper 1 The ethical theory of utilitarianism argues that an act is only morally right if its consequences result in at least as much pleasure or wellbeing as the consequences of every alternative act. This theory was introduced by Jeremy Bentham and later further developed by John Stuart Mill. This paper will discuss Mill’s thoughts on utilitarianism and how its application can result in new moral dilemmas.
John Stuart Mill begins chapter three by pondering what exactly it is that characterizes a moral decision and why society is driven to find a moral solution to every issue. He mentions external sanctions, such as the fear of scorn from the surrounding community or a religious figurehead, as potential motivators for moral actions and suggests that these motivators are central to utilitarian morality, just as they are for …show more content…
He reasons that each person naturally desires their own happiness, and therefore happiness is a good. Following this logic, general happiness can be equated to the good of all persons. His proof centers around the belief that the greatest happiness is morally intuitive, yet there are several instances in which this argument would not hold. In a situation where five people in a hospital are in critical need of an organ transplant, a doctor would not kill one healthy person and use his organs to save the five sick patients. Although saving the five people would likely result in a greater sum of happiness, we can intuitively deduce that it is not the morally right decision. In another case, a soldier might give his life by diving to cover a live grenade to shield his squad from the blast. Is the most likely explanation that he considered their happiness to be more valuable than his own? His course of action was not driven by a desire for happiness; it was motivated by some other moral principle, such as his sense of duty and obligation to his