Kantianism Vs Act Utilitarianism

Two different forms of utilitarianism are described in our text. The first is called act utilitarianism. According to Shaw and Barry, act utilitarianism states that we must ask ourselves what the consequences of a particular act in a particular situation will be for all those affected (p.60).

Space has been a constant source of wonder and enchantment for many years. The idea that we as a race could colonize and live on another planet is something exciting to the humans who have worked tirelessly to get to this point. While colonization is not only possible but also imminent what we are lacking is a basis for the small world that will be formed 225 million miles away from Earth. How exactly will this society function without interaction with people from outside of their colony for extended periods of time? It is important to realize that while this is a fantastic opportunity for humanity, it is not without it's risks and flaws. Without a sound set of guidelines it is very likely that this endeavor will succeed optimally. I say that this can be easily avoided. My aim in this project is to present what I visualize as a flourishing society on this martian colony. In order to do that, I will use the Virtue Ethics theory as the base of the society on the colony, emphasizing that the Virtue Ethics theory is the best suited for this endeavor.

For example, there is a hunter who wonders if it is morally acceptable to kill a deer. Act Utilitarianism analyzes the effects of this one action to decide if it is moral by assigning a value to the amount of pleasure and pain each individual involved will experience. In this case the hunter and his family will experience the pleasure of having food from eating the deer, many of the neighbors of the hunter will experience pleasure by having the deer off their property, and the deer’s family will experience the pain of the loss of a family member. If the outcome is that the net value of pleasure is greater than the pain caused by the killing of the deer, it is morally right for the hunter to kill it.

In “ethics” there are four theories that can be used when dealing with this situation and they are; Utilitarianism, Universal Ethics,

Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that was initially formulated by Jeremy Bentham and later developed further by John Stuart Mill. It has gained wide acceptance even till modern times. This is the belief which declares that the foundation of morals is ‘utility’ or the ‘greatest happiness’ principle and contends that actions are right to the extent they tend to maximize happiness; wrong if they lead to the reverse of happiness. This theory states that the determination of whether an act is morally right depends on its consequences, thus giving it the name of consequentialism. There are several varying approaches that essentially come under the categories of act consequentialism and rule

Utilitarianism is an idea on where actions are morally right or wrong depending on the outcome. Act utilitarianism is the idea that an action is correct if it brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people. The morality of an action is following the moral rules since it is bringing the greatest happiness to people. Rule utilitarianism is the idea that an action is morally right if it follows the rules that will bring the greatest happiness to people.

Utilitarianism is a moral theory that evaluates the rightness or wrongness of an action depending on its consequences. The criteria for this evaluation is how the action impacts the

Act utilitarianism is a theory of ethics which will state that a person 's act is as morally right if and only if it produces at least as much happiness as any other act that the person would perform at that particular time. To understand how an act utilitarianism works, you have to compare the consequences for example if you decided to watch television all day tomorrow to the consequences of your doing some sort of charity work instead. You could produce more overall happiness in the world by doing charity work tomorrow than by watching television all day. According to act utilitarianism, then, the right thing for you to do tomorrow is to go out and do some sort of good in the world as in charity work; to utilitarian’s it is wrong for you to stay home and watch television all day.

Utilitarianism has its foundation name from “utility”, meaning “usefulness”. The action based on this theory is moral if it is useful, as well as bring the desirable and the end of the action is good. Actions based on this theory have to bring happiness for the people, who affected by the action. Utilitarianism is based on two main forms: act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. According to the act utilitarianism, people should do actions that bring the majority amount of good, rather than the bad for people who would affect by the acts. This theory also stated that actions should not base on setting rules. The reason for that is because each individuals have different circumstances, and each person is different too. People must find the

Saving everyone would be the ideal option but, it is nearly impossible. According to the text, a Utilitarian feel that actions that cause pain are impermissible and actions that cause pleasure are permissible, which at times may be obligatory. I feel that a Utilitarian would kill one of the Indians to save the other eleven. Kantians feel that one has a moral duty to do only what is rational, simply because these things are rational. As a Kantian, in this particular scenario, if Jim kills one Indian his actions are permissible, because it his duty to act rationally. If Jim chose not to participate his actions would be impermissible because he chose to ignore the duty of saving the majority of the Indians.

The skin that wasn't burned was sliced for grafts. The only undamaged skin left is on the bottoms of his feet. When he really wants to feel something, he uses his toes.

The next stage involves a critical analysis of the just described theoretical systems. We will explore the factors and influences involved in a chosen Case Study where personal influences are involved. Thereafter, we will look into different approaches a Kantian and a Utilitarian would address the issue and the reasons behind. It will be imperative to understand the actual factors influencing decisions under each of the moral systems identified (Lukas 22).

This theory advocates that the actions worth is determined by maximizing utility (pleasure or happiness).it looks at the consequence of an action as to whether the outcome is good to the majority of people affected by it. According to Bentham, utilitarianism is the greatest happiness or greatest felicity principle. There are many types of this theory which include act vs. rule, two level, motive, negative and average vs. total. (Clifford G., John C. 2009) In act utilitarianism, when people have to make choices, they should consider the consequences of each choice and then choose that which will generate much pleasure.

John S. Mill describes utilitarianism, also known as “The greatest happiness principle”, as a philosophical theory of morality. This theory is focused on the end result (a consequential theory) rather than the motive behind it. It argues that the morality of the action is solely dependent on the action’s results. The action is morally ethical as long as it produces the greatest happiness for the majority of people involved. Mill mentions, “… 'the greatest happiness principle ' holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness…” (Mill7). Then if it does, in fact, bring happiness the action is considered to be right. Mill focuses on consequences of actions and not on ethical sentiments. There are two major types of Utilitarianism: act utilitarians perform the action that will create the greatest net utility while rule utilitarians evaluate the rules and then evaluate individual actions by seeing if they obey those rules whose agreement will produce the most utility.

The idea of utilitarian theory argues that we need to always choose the actions that can cause the greatest happiness. It is one of the influential ethical and moral theory out there discussed by our philosophers John Stuart, Jeremy Bentham, and Mill from 19th century. The theory also places great emphasis on the thought that worthiness and importance about ethics is determined by the happiness or pleasure received by the outcome. So, to basically put it in simple way, it is the action you take that can give happiness to maximum number of people including yourself.