Happiness Is Worth No More Than Anyone Happiness

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).

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory with the rule, “act in such a way as to maximize the expected satisfaction of interests in the world, equally considered.” We try to act in such a way that considers everyone’s pains and pleasures. With this in mind, we have to discover what truly makes others happy. We should not ignore those that are affected by our behavior.

Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism, as it determines right and wrong by focusing on outcomes. Utilitarian’s believe that the most ethical decision is a choice that will produce the greater good for the greatest number of people. Furthermore, this means that the actions are deemed as right as long as they promote happiness and deemed wrong if they produce unhappiness. Utilitarianism also relies on a theory of intrinsic value, Utilitarians essentially believe that pleasure or happiness is the only thing that has intrinsic value, meaning that something is simple good in itself. A third fundamental claim held by utilitarian’s is that everyone’s happiness is matters equally.

Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory that judges an action on its outcomes and aims to maximize happiness. This means finding the action that generates the “greatest good for the greatest number”.

1. Do you think that there are some which we would gladly have, not for their consequences, but because we appreciate them for their own sake; as, for example, enjoyment and those harmless pleasures which produce no further effects beyond the mere pleasurable experience?

Utilitarianism: For and Against Utilitarianism is a moral theory that is centered around the concept of happiness. Although there are many varieties of the theory, utilitarianism is generally thought to be the view that the morally right action is the action that produces the most good. Happiness is considered to be an act that people seek, and an ultimate goal for human beings. Classical utilitarianism focuses on the concept of happiness and actions, as well as their consequences that impact others, not just an individual. English philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill have two different approaches to utilitarianism.

Over the years, humanity has developed and improved their technology, ultimately replacing the old with the new; this including their happiness and pleasure with artificial substitutes such as phones and alcohol. Their new inventions, however, fail to fill the gaps in their hearts that seek true pleasure, but what even is true pleasure? How does it contribute to happiness? Hedonists such as Epicurus believed that a good, simple life was one full of pleasures and desires, uninhabited by pain. These desires include food, shelter, friends and clothing, nothing too extravagant. He believed these were the key ingredients that make life worth living. He saw nothing wrong with a pleasurable life, but noticed that the majority was drawn to materials

In fact, however, the pleasures differ quite a lot, in human beings at any rate. For some things delight some people, and cause pain to others; and while some find them painful and hateful, others find them pleasant and lovable…But in all such cases it seems that what is really so is what appears so to the excellent person. If this is right, as it seems to be, and virtue, i.e., the good person insofar as he is good, is the measure of each thing, then what appear pleasures to him will also really be pleasures…and if what he finds objectionable appears pleasant to someone, that is not at all surprising: for human beings suffer many sorts of corruption and damage. It is not pleasant, however, except to those people in these conditions.

“ We ought to use logic and virtues to make the most happiness and the least suffering, firstly within our lives and interactions while also striving to do the same in the greater world around us, and we should do such without violating the autonomy, rights, or dignity of those affected or involved,” The principle allows us to strive toward the goal, while also respecting our own humanness, accepting merely that we try to better the world. Classical utilitarianism would argue that these additions prevent us from maximizing happiness, and this is true. However I find this expectable as we must remember we are speaking about people and how we live together. To attempt to maximize happiness at the expense of all else will lead to fundamental breakdown of values and principle. If an action can survive the trials of the principle and still promote happiness overall even within personal and world relationship, then it certainly has more moral

Utilitarianism is rooted in the thesis that an action or practice is right (when compared to any alternative action or practice) if it leads to the greatest possible balance of good consequences or to the least possible balance of bad consequences in the world as a whole. (13) This theory discusses how as humans we should pursue our lives. John Mill, a philosopher, supported the Utilitarianism perspective, known as, "The Greatest Happiness"

Aristotle describes the importance of pleasure in relation to the human life; that is, pleasure is important and needed for a life to be virtuous. Though he describes pleasure in two ways, first he makes it a significant aspect of one’s life. “For pleasure is a state of soul, and to each man that which he is said to be a lover of is pleasant… the lovers of what is noble find pleasant the things that are by nature pleasant; and virtuous actions are such, so that these are pleasant for such men as well as in their own nature” (Nicomachean Ethics, 1.8 1099a7-15). Having pleasure, a feeling of satisfaction, joy, and even ecstasy, is a state of the soul. It is something to be drawn towards and feeling that one should strive to gain. Those who practice a noble life and are virtuous will naturally come to find

I understand utilitarianism to be the view that right actions are those that promote happiness and wrong actions are those that interfere with happiness. It is important to note that this happiness does not refer to the happiness of individuals, but rather to the happiness of the general population. The utilitarian moral agent must always have the intention of producing actions only that result in maximizing the general happiness. One might ask how the moral agent is to foresee and examine the results of their actions prior to taking action. In chapter two of Mill’s Utilitarianism he writes, “the creed which accepts as the foundation of morals ‘utility’ or the ‘greatest happiness principle’ holds that actions are right in proportion as they

Utilitarianism is one of the most influential moral theories which holds that the morality of an action is determined by whether it contributes to the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people or not. John Stuart Mill, a famous philosopher of the 1800s, is widely known as one of the founders of utilitarianism. He states that the foundation of utilitarianism is that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”(Mill 10). Further, he raised the concept that pleasures that are generated by higher faculties values more than the one brought by baser faculties. Also, he distinguished between the quality and quantity of utility yields by an action. As a branch

Utilitarianism is the ethical belief that the happiness of the greatest number of people is the greatest good. Jeremy Betham and John Stuart Mill are two philosophers that were leading advocates for the utilitarianism that we study today. In order to understand the basis of utilitarianism, one must know what happiness is. John Stuart Mill defines happiness as the intended pleasure and absence of pain while unhappiness is pain and the privation of pleasure. Utilitarians feel the moral obligation to maximize pleasure for not only themselves, but for as many people as possible. All actions can be determined as right or wrong based on if they produce the maximum amount of happiness. The utilitarian belief that all actions can be determined as right or wrong based only on their repercussions connects utilitarianism to consequentialism. Consequentialism is the belief that an action can be determined morally right or wrong based on its consequences. Just like any other belief system, utilitarianism faces immense amount of praise and criticism.

The idea in utilitarianism is that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its value in providing happiness or pleasure as summed among all conscious beings. It is a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of any action is determined by its outcome. Thus the utilitarian maxim: the greatest good for the greatest number. The largest contributors to utilitarianism were Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. [1]