John Singer Sargent

B1. What do you see as the most damaging objection to Utilitarianism? Do you think Utilitarianism can survive it? Utilitarianism is an effort to provide an answer to the ethical question: “What should a man to do?” How should he act to others? Its answer is that he ought to do good or not do bad. Happiness is obtained from the feeling of doing good to others. But why then are so many altruistic people so miserably depressed? Let's take Mother Theresa for example. She dedicate her life's work…

Disturbing Discrepancies Utilitarianism is a theory of morality in government that operates under the principle that the good of the masses is more important than the happiness of any single person or entity. It argues that whatever action will bring about the greatest good for the greatest number is therefore the right option. This idea of improving the lives of many is hard to refute simply as a principle, as one is certainly in the moral right to place one’s neighbors before oneself. That…

philosophy. It is widely used by everyone on a daily basis but has barely gotten recognition it deserves. Utilitarianism was founded in Ancient Greece but was not popularly used until the 19th century when it was re-introduced by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. While both men are credited as two of the most influential people in the foundation of, what we now consider, ethical theory. The approach in which we utilize the theory to make decisions is different from each other. In addition to…

What is Utilitarianism? Utilitarianism is the idea that "moral action should be about producing happiness in the world, the more happiness it produces, the better it is" (Garcia, Slide 6). The idea of Utilitarianism can be broken down into two forms; One being Act Utilitarianism and the second being Rule Utilitarianism. Act Utilitarianism is when "an act is morally right just because it maximizes overall well-being, or at least is expected to" (Garcia, Slide 6), while Rule Utilitarianism is when…

Utilitarianism meaning is that is “Action are right to the degree that they tend to promote the greatest good for the greatest number.” (Mill) Basic understanding of the Ethical theory of Utilitarianism means that if acted accurately and get joy doing it; then it is the right way, but it must ensure happiness for all, not just one. “It asserts that an action is right if and only if it brings about at least as much net happiness as any other action the agent could have performed; otherwise the…

Bioethics Essay Utilitarian Theory reflects consequentialism which is “a label affixed to theories holding that actions are right or wrong to balance of their good and bad consequences” (354). The general meaning for utilitarian is, the greatest good for the greatest number. In other words, “The right act in any circumstance is the act that produces the best overall result as determined by the theory’s account of value” (354). What matters is that you are getting the most out of your action.…

According to scientists, around 150-200 species of plant and animal go extinct every 24 hours. This statistic doesn’t seem so shocking until the realization comes that this is almost 1,000 times the natural rate for extinction. Humans contribute a great amount to this pandemic. A prime example is that of the dodo bird, which was famously hunted into extinction. Around 20,000 species are currently listed as threatened by extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).…

The ancient philosopher Mozi inspired Mohism, similar to Western utilitarianism. Western utilitarianism calls actions to be right if they are useful for the benefit of the majority. Mozi is also known as the original consequentialist. Within his arguments for consequentialism, he proposed that to have moral reasoning in making decisions, humans must be totally impartial. Impartiality in reasoning is the concept of not having any interest in yourself when making the decision and focusing on the…

Utilitarianism Regarding Moral Reasoning and Privacy Rights Utilitarianism is essentially a doctrine within the study of ethics that focuses on the pleasures and pains of an individual in regard to their actions being beneficial to a majority. The principle question the doctrine seeks to answer is, “What ought a man to do?”, with the outcome being his actions provide the best results possible. As a branch of consequentialism (which, on a wider scale, focuses on an action’s outcome being…

The two different forms of utilitarianism that are described by Shaw and Barry are Act and Rule utilitarianism. The act utilitarianism is the most basic from of utilitarianism. In this form our main goal is to maximize happiness for everyone concerned about therefore we judge every situation by asking ourselves question how consequences of specific act will affect the involved people. If the consequences of one act bring more happiness compare to other actions, then we consider that act as a…