UTILITARIANISM AND DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS 13
Utilitarianism and Deontological Ethics
Christopher Kearney
Student ID 4697583
American Public University System (AMU)
Dr. Robert Watkins
September 21,2017
Abstract
Usefulness and duty are two of the primary drivers that cause people to take action or not. Usefulness of an action means that the society receives the greatest amount of benefits from the action (or actions) of an individual(s). On the other hand, duty is the obligation or a sense of honor that a society may achieve by following a set code of conduct or ideals to accomplish a goal. Most of the time that goal is for causing good to others. Certain powerful entities, such as the
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In other words, it evaluates the desirability of a specific action based on the outcomes of that choice. A familiar guide for such a decision-making would be selecting the option that yields the greatest good for the greatest number of people, or the least harmful result. It demands that individuals judge their actions based on the significance or correctness of the outcome of it. That means if the outcome of an action is good, then the action can be ethical. On the other hand, if an action is wrong, then it is unethical (Tanner et al., 2007). According to George Moore (1965), a British philosopher, the “rightness” or “wrongness” of an action depends on its outcome (p. 80-83). The same holds true with other utilitarianists. George further states that an individual’s intentions or motives are irrelevant in evaluating the “rightness” or “wrongness” of their actions.
When thinking about the concept of rightness or wrongness of an action, it is good to consider the advantages from either one or both sides. The best scenario is for the two parties to come out in a win-win situation, but sometimes that is not possible. That is because utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory that basis the locus of right and wrong exclusively on the consequences of choosing one action over the other. The underlying principle of utilitarianism is looking beyond the desires and
Throughout Philosophy, morality is a central theme. Although each scholar views the definition of morality differently, the goal of people to be better and think for themselves is the main focus. Many philosophers have defined and categorized utilitarianism in different ways. In normative ethics, Jeremy Bentham believes an action is right if it promotes happiness and wrong if it produces the reverse of happiness but not just the happiness of a person who performed the action but also everyone that was affected by it (Duignan). Utilitarianism is the view that the morally right action is the action that has the most good (Driver). The foundation of morality in utilitarianism comes from utility or intrinsic value (Skorupski 256). In utilitarianism actions are evaluated by their utility instead of intrinsic properties of the actions (Skorupski 256). Utilitarianism says certain acts are right or wrong in themselves making us perform them or do not do them at all. On the contrary, concepts of the good go hand and hand with that of rights and obligation causing obligation to be determined by intrinsic value (Skorupski 256). John Stuart Mill theory of utilitarianism reveals what is utilitarianism, the morality, proof of validity, and the connection between justice and utility in the study of thinking.
Utilitarianism, in the contrary, is based on the principle of utility or usefulness. Utility is what encourages an agent to act in a particular way (Tuckett, 1998). Utility can be explained as maximizing the good like pleasure and happiness and minimizing the bad like pain and evil, all leading to the greater good for all parties involved. It weights the consequences of the actions equally between the ones involved, and the ethical solution would be to follow the greater good for most if not all the parties involved.
To apply utilitarianism to this ethical controversy one has to evaluate which option would benefit society
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that pivots around the belief that morality should be judged by consequence and the way in which an action can be deemed moral or immoral, depends upon the number to which it brings the greatest happiness. A decision can be defined as ethically correct under the theory of Utilitarianism if the moral choice provides the 'greatest good for the greatest number of people', proving that at the core of Utilitarianism are the ideals of pleasure and consequence. Although Utilitarianism provides a useful, simplistic way for making moral decisions,
Health Care Provider is a very substantial field in health care as it is the procedure for caring for, or nurturing for an individual known as the ‘patient’. It also refers to the roles and duties carried out by persons who have had formal education and training in the art and science of health professionals. Existence critical in the health care field, certain roles and practices are being perceived by care for in order to more effectively and more efficiently provide services to their patients. To further provide acceptable service to their patients, health care providers, also have to witness moral and ethical values and practices, as ethics and morals may serve to provide dilemmas and conflicts in translation adequate service to patients.
Utilitarianism is a type of theory that was developed to come up with a proper course of action that maximizes the joy of the stakeholders involved. While consequentialism is defined as the view that value of an action derives solely from the value of its consequences. Today, consequentialism is the form that usually takes form. Utilitarianism tries to evaluate the moral worth of an action after one has considered the actual consequences, the foreseen consequences, and the anticipated consequences. In the business environment, situations arise that require the application of utilitarianism ethics. Decision makers are placed on notice and utilitarianism takes priority over the
The Utilitarian ethical theory states that what makes an action ethical or unethical are the good or bad results of the action. Actions are chosen to increase pleasure and avoid suffering and, some pleasures are better or higher than others. The theory, therefore, focuses on the outcome of a person’s actions
Utilitarianism is a moral theory that seeks to define right and wrong actions based solely on the consequences they produce. By utilitarian standards, an act is determined to be right if and
Utilitarians believe that whether an act is right or wrong depends only on the consequences it produces. An act that results in at least as much pleasure or well being as other alternative acts is right, and vice versa. In other words, any act that does not maximize pleasure is morally wrong. Even though utilitarian ethics often clashes with conventional norms, the conflict has no direct moral relevance to the action.
Utilitarianism: this when the actions are appropriate and benefit the recipient of that action. This
According to Sharp et al., 2011, the utilitarian approach argues that, “acts are not judged to be morally right or wrong in of themselves, but rather by the results that they cause.” Therefore, the right action according to utilitarianism is the one that produces the greatest good (happiness) for the greatest number of people over suffering.
Kant’s theory of deontology and Mill’s theory of utilitarianism provide starkly different approaches to assigning moral value to ethical dilemmas, two modern dilemmas being commercial surrogacy and physician-assisted suicide. This essay will expound upon the process of deciding moral value within each ethical theory and then apply this decision process to the two ethical dilemmas. Arguments will be posited in support or in opposition to the proposed ethical dilemmas according to the ethical theories. The discussion will revolve around the theories as proposed by the specific authors mentioned above in their relevant works.
A problem with utilitarianism is the psychological effect it has on one person. The utilitarian course of action is one where the good is defined before the right. If the consequences turn out bad, the person with the integrity is going to feel bad and think that they did the wrong thing. A utilitarian will think they did the right thing because of how the outcome appeared to be before the actions took place.
The basic idea of Utilitarianism is that it is the philosophical theory of morality and “how one should act.” Morality is also described as the theory of being able to determine what is right or wrong and it is basically like a map that one can use to determine what is wrong or right. In this school of study, right and wrong in Utilitarianism can be determined by the overall goodness of what the consequences of action chosen will likely yield. Utilitarianism attribute is that it focuses on the end result. We as human beings have been given the power to discern what we consider to be right or wrong based on our beliefs and especially how we have been raised up.
One of the major players in ethical theories has long been the concept of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism states that in general the ethical rightness or wrongness of an action is directly related to the utility of that action. Utility is more specifically defined as a measure of the goodness or badness of the consequences of an action (see quote by Mill above). For the