Jeremy Herrin

Mill questions the validity of the core doctrine of the utilitarianism, which holds that "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." In his philosophical inquiry, he strives to define what defines the ultimate happiness and pleasure. Contrary to Bentham, the proponent of the classical utilitarianism, who believes that all sources of pleasure are equal in value, Mill asserts that the quality of pleasure is a major…

First, the policy developments of the Native Sport and Recreation Program, Sport: Everbody’s Business, and Sport the Way Ahead will be analyzed using Foucault’s understanding of discipline, Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, and biopower. In the following section the APP will be examined using Foucault’s notion of governmentality. As such, according to a Foucauldian understanding, the goal of discipline is to facilitate normalization, which is defined…

The story “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Sir Conan Doyl features Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Helen Stoner, and Dr. Roylott trying to solve a mystery. The story takes place at Stoke Moran, Dr. Ryolott’s mansion, in April, 1883. Helen Stoner visits Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to see if the detectives could solve her case. Helen tells Sherlock that her sister, Julia, died before she was married and now Helen fears that she could possibly die the same way. Helen does not know what had…

Utilitarianism is an influential moral theory that whether the actions of a person or government are right or wrong will depend on the effect of the action for the results it produces. There are act utilitarians, which take the actions, laws or policies of individual actions into consideration whereas rule utilitarian concentrate on the outcome of types of actions, such as stealing or taking a life. Utilitarians are of the belief system that the purpose of ethics and morality is to increase…

Utilitarianism is concerned with the promotion of the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. It refers to the ethical theory that posits that happiness is the ultimate end of the morality. I think Mill significantly refutes moral egoism. According to Mill, the greatest happiness is based on the principle that an action is right as far as it promotes the happiness. I think, this principle refutes moral egoism because he asserts that it is the only intrinsically desirable thing. In…

Robert Nozick is a famous American philosopher widely known for his Anarchy, State and Utopia book. His works were designated to the existence of minimal state and libertarianism. However, in this essay I will talk about his view over hedonism. According to hedonism, pleasure is the highest good and only pleasure could increase the well-being of society. So, in Anarchy, State and Utopia, Nozick makes thought experiment in order to defeat hedonism and prove that there is something more…

Morality through happiness, while preventing pain, is the major concept of John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism. In this edition of his writing, Mill talks about Utility’s “greatest happiness principle” and the logic that flows behind it. The critical ideas that come out of Utilitarianism is the idea of happiness as as the end moral goal and that Utilitarians recognize sacrifice for the greater good. The main objective of this essay is to figure out whether it is moral for a person to take the…

As the great Mr. Spock said, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” This is essentially what utilitarianism is. You’re maximizing the “utility” of each of the parts of a whole. It is a form of consequentialism, which means that whether the action is justifiable or moral is dependent on the consequence of the action. This particular form of consequentialism just states that the best moral action to take would be one that maximizes utility, whether it is on an individual or group…

Hedonism is an objective Value Theory which asserts that the only intrinsically valuable thing is pleasure. However, it does not mean pleasure in the sense it is typically thought of. Hedonists believe there are two types of pleasure: physical pleasure and attitudinal pleasure. Many people believe that physical pleasure is the important pleasure for modern Hedonists; however, this is not the case. Though physical pleasure may contribute to your attitudinal pleasure, they are not good in and of…

Applied Utilitarianism The definition of this greatly fascinates me. It got me thinking about Capital Punishment. In society, there are rules that each citizen must follow to be considered a good citizen. The rules put in place are usually determined by an educated group of people who create these rules to benefit their community. In some societies, certain acts are punishable by death. The logic behind this is fascinating. For example, if an individual is a killer, most would agree that the…