Argument For Criticizing Utilitarianism And Deontology

153). In essence, utilitarianism is maximizing everyone’s happiness, which can almost be considered a universal acceptance (Boylan, 2009, p. 154). Jeremy Bentham is one of the proponents of modern utilitarianism and states, “nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure” (Boylan, 2009, p. 154). In business utilitarianism shares the nonmoral views that the best decision that had no moral conflict would be to maximize profit, which would be the greatest good of the company and its employees (Boylan, 2009, p. 162). Utilitarianism does not always hold true in some minds. Utilitarianism does not take into account motives of the people (Boylan, 2009, p. 165). “If one acts in accord with the general principle and its corollaries, then one is moral” (Boylan, 2009, p. 165).

Samuel Adams (1722 - 1803), an American patriot and politician, once stated, "Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason"[1]. This statement is significant, as it undermines two of the primary ethical doctrines in philosophy - the deontological perspective defended by Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) in Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals (634), and utilitarianism, supported by John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) in his essay, Utilitarianism (667). Deontology and utilitarianism are contrasting theories. The former focuses on the intrinsic moral worth of our actions, whereas the latter argues that the consequences of our actions determine

In the context of research, ethics is defined as the systems of moral principles that guide human action (1). Ethics is the reflection of the societies ideals of what is right and wrong. It is required in order for research to be valid and published for an ethics committee to evaluate the proposed research question, design and implementations and provide approval in order for a research project to be considered ethical.

Utilitarianism and Deontology are two very different ethical theories that have very little in common. They are similar in the sense that they share the same focus which is to determine which human actions are right and acceptable versus the actions that are wrong hence unacceptable. Beyond the primary focus of which actions are right or wrong, there seem to be no similarities. This is because both theories have different approaches to determine what is good and what is bad. Despite the fact that both theories have pros and cons, Utilitarianism seems to be the better moral theory.

Throughout life, individuals are often faced with a multitude of moral dilemmas which can be difficult to assess given the factors of the situation and consequences, based on what is right and wrong. In this paper I will be assessing the Trolley Problem in relation to Utilitarianism and Deontology and will conclude which theory is the best way to behave given the situation. In the first paragraph, I will begin by discussing the Trolley Problem followed by the next paragraph’s which will explaining how Utilitarianism and Deontology would approach the situation. Furthermore, I will be discussing which theory I believe is right in regards to the best way to behaving in society, given the possible outcomes of the problem. Since the moral issue of killing and letting die are close in hand, Deontology is the only explainable way to behave because this theory approaches all situations in regard to what is fair and acceptable for all, while Utilitarianism takes an approach that degrades humanity and differs from person to person.

An ethical dilemma is defined as a moral issue, where a situation has two equivalent undesirable alternatives and neither choice will resolve the ethical predicament.

Jeremy Bentham was one of the first philosophers to present a fully developed system of utilitarianism. He thought that we, as humans, should evaluate the consequences of our actions, determine whether each action is morally right or wrong, and tally the pleasure and pain that comes as a result of our actions. Is it right for me to donate to charity? Is it right for me to cheat on my government test? These questions we ask ourselves fall under Bentham’s theory known as act-utilitarianism because it focuses on the consequences of every action we perform. Bentham argues that the “greatest happiness of the greatest number of people” (Bentham) is how we should determine right from wrong. He also believed “mankind is under the

An ethical dilemma is a choice a person must make that weighs their morals and character. According to authors of Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, Manual Velasquez et al. states “[It] tells us how human beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves” (p. 275). That decision whether they decided if it was ethically moral or not, will affect them negatively or positively. In many different scenarios, people will apply different types of ethics that works the best for them and their situation.

Bentham saw the fatality in mercy that lacked in Deontology, thus he focused on Teleology and came up with the Utilitarian ethics. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist philosophy that is to say the “end justifies the mean.” The method that Bentham applied to describe utilitarianism used math. Suppose for action X, how many positive and negative impacts can be yielded. If the positive outweighed the negative, then it is moral, and vice versa. The initial approach suggested that morality is “for the greater good.” Years later John Stuart Mill came to redefine the approach into “for the greatest good, for the greatest number of people.” Thus making it more blurry to decide if an action is right. The theory of doing the right action in Utilitarianism seems be transitive. Scenario one: save one who is drowning or help a person who is crying? It is clear that the drowning person should be saved. Scenario two: save on who is drowning or help 1000 people who are crying? According to Utilitarianism one would be obligated to help the 1000 because their happiness would yield to the greatest good for the greatest amount of

Classical utilitarianism is grounded in the ‘greatest happiness principle’: the preservation of happiness of all of mankind (Mill, 2003, p. 138).The theory states that one must act so as to bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Another component of the theory which Bentham claims is that, “everybody to count for one, nobody for more than one.” (as cited in Mill, 2003, p. 138)

The theory behind utilitarianism is that one’s actions are right if it promotes happiness or pleasure and wrong if it does not promote happiness or pleasure. The main point to this theory is the principle of utility that states “according to which actions should be chosen that bring about the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.” (Palmer) Jeremy Bentham gave essentially utilitarianism its name and brought more attention to it than those before him. Bentham came up with a guide named the calculus of felicity that included seven categories for choosing among different possible activities to promote one’s happiness or pleasures. John Stuart Mills, also an utilitarian, added to Bentham’s calculus because he did

Jeremy Bentham is primarily known today for his principle of utilitarianism, which evaluates actions based on their consequences. He believes that an act is considered “just” if it generates the most happiness and the least pain for the greatest number of people affected directly or indirectly by that action. Bentham defines utility as the property in any object that tends to produce benefit, good, pleasure or happiness or averts the happenings of pain and unhappiness to the party where interest is considered. Hence, utilitarianism bases its understanding of right action based on consequences. (Wolff)

Bentham’s concern was upon utilitarianism which assumes the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers. He believes that individuals weigh the probabilities of present and future pleasures against those of present and future pain (Postema, 1998).

The statement “The greatest happiness for the greatest number is the measure of right and wrong” was coined by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham as the fundamental axiom of his philosophy. Bentham is respected as the father of Modern Utilitarianism; this strand of ethical thinking has not only been adopted by followers of Bentham, for example John Stuart Mill or Peter Singer, but also by economists and lawyers as a means of creating a fair society, with the highest potential for co-operation. However, although utilitarianism is widely followed and supported, there are many issues that arise due to its subjectivity

Jeremy Bentham is widely regarded as the father of utilitarianism. He was born in 1748 into a family of lawyers and was himself, training to join the profession. During this process however, he became disillusioned by the state British law was in and set out to reform the system into a perfect one based on the ‘Greatest Happiness Principle,’ ‘the idea that pleasurable consequences are what qualify an action as being morally good’. Bentham observed that we are all governed by pain and pleasure; we all