Moral Decisions: Utilitarianism, And The Virtue Approach

Utilitarianism: “The idea that an action is right, as long as it promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct (Oxford Dictionaries).” This theory was thought up as far back as the 17th century, but didn’t become well known until late into the 18th century when Jeremy Bentham a legal and social reformer gave a powerful presentation of the idea. “Create all the happiness you are able to create; remove all the misery you are able to remove. Every day will allow you, will invite you to add something to the pleasure of others, or to diminish something of their pains (Jeremey Bentham).” Deontology: “An ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether

This essay will provide a theoretical understanding of the four ethical frameworks: Consequentialism, Non- Consequentialism, Virtue Ethics and Care Ethics. When applied to a situation these frameworks help teachers to resolve and justify their decision making. The objective is to apply the four frameworks to the scenario Helping Molly, to establish the most ethical course of action. Finally, a recommended course of action will be justification. The overarching ethical issue present within the Helping Molly scenario is the community sponsorship and the alignment with school beliefs and initiatives.

The three ethical theories I will discuss from Chapter 1 include: utilitarianism, virtue and care ethics. First, the utilitarianism is moral standard and a theory of action by humans that are morally right in action. Utilitarianism is an action that is morally right if its consequences are more favorable. One way for businesses’, as our reading suggests (Fieser & Moseley, 2012), is make a list of all the good and bad for any particular act. If the good outweighs the bad then that action should occur. If the bad outweighs the good, then the action should stop. Utilitarianism theory attempts to keep things on the positive, happier side of the spectrum. A company using this theory is probably functioning well due to their morale analysis of actions related to safe products, good quality products and customer care, a fair price, and fair and equal treatment to their employees. In addition, because utilitarianism is a morale standard, a company would be environmentally conscious and find ways to help the community and the world. A company would work at making their products in an environmentally safe way, recycle surplus and make their products within the United States to support the economy. A company would also look at balancing goods over harm produced to the environment or people. Lastly, if a company were to be very successful, they should donate some of their proceeds back into the community (environmentally or local community support) or employees (bonuses,

In this essay I intend on arguing the legitimacy of utilitarianism, and if its principles can be subjected effectively to society today. Utilitarianism, which is a common term in normative ethics, is a moral doctrine that coordinates and specifies evaluation and moral actions through three recommendations. These recommendations are the criterion of good and evil, a moral imperative, and a measured evaluation. A criterion of good and evil emphasizes on the happiness and stakeholders well being both in short and long term, and the moral imperative is the maximization of the good which gives the greatest happiness to the greatest number. A measured evaluation implies the measure of good and evil and the moral imperative

To live morally we need self-control. Self-control is an important characteristic of a moral life and is needed in rule utilitarism and virtue theory.

While utilitarian approach is based on the society as a whole, Aristotle’s virtue ethics gives us perspectives on harm reduction from an individualistic point of view. Aristotle defines good in terms of something we aim at and is related to the function one performs in a community. Society, for Aristotle is a conglomeration of citizens with good character, where each one performs the specific function assigned to him in the best possible manner. (Macintyre 2002: 52; Aristotle Politics Book II) Virtue ethics, unlike utilitarianism is not concerned with specific actions under specific circumstances, but rather with the ‘character’ of the individual (Aristotle Ethics Book II). While Ethics prescribes the kind of life we must lead to attain eudaemonia,

Ronald, thank you for your thoughtful and insightful post on Utilitarianism, as I concur with you that this ethical model can present issues that most Christian would not be able to support based on the scripture you sighted. When looking at this particular model research supports that non-religious individuals are more inclined to support utilitarianism especially in the workplace as “actions that are likely to maximize good effects, or minimize the occurrence of bad effects, are those kinds of actions one is permitted, or obligated, to perform” as opposed to a religious individual who rely on either deontological or absolutism ethics demonstrates the rightness of an action is determine by upholding or violating a universal code

The way a person thinks and analyzes situations in their life and/or society can be indifferent and challenging depending on their moral and ethical views. Furthermore, there have been multiple philosophers who have studied the way society thinks and reacts to situations by creating different perceptions for decision making. For example, some people make decisions on what they believe is morally right for their tribe (family, religion, lifestyles) while others may contradict this statement and believe that decision-making should help the greater good despite moral beliefs, which is called utilitarianism. This philosophy explains the measures on how one defines a decision to be morally right or wrong. A utilitarian believes that morality is

Utilitarianism is a theory that delineates the bounds of morality with respect to actions taken by individuals in terms of what produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. The principle seeks to define first the morality of an action, allowing for the morality of a person to be derived based on the intent behind the respective action. The fundamentals of a person’s morality are then presented in a form that labels the person behind a morally defined action as either praiseworthy or blameworthy, a conclusion based directly on the intent behind an action.

The moral theories of utilitarianism, duty ethics, and virtue ethics each offer particular guidelines on how to live a good and moral life. While on their own these theories have various faults that make them unsustainable, I have found that the combination of the Categorical Imperatives in duty ethics along with the importance of having a moral character in virtue ethics can possibly create a rational moral theory. Though this theory I have created is not without flaws, it is one that offers a better approach to living a morally upright life.

In this paper, I intend to show that utilitarian theory of moral status is much more preferable than deontological approach. I will demonstrate this idea by using by using the concept of moral laws by Immanuel Kant and John Mill along with Peter Singer’s Speciesism and Moral Status.

Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams greatly influenced philosophical ethics through several studies on the moral aspects of Utilitarianism. His complex thinking and theories, along with his unique approach, gave him a great amount of recognition towards other theorists in his field. He expressed the majority of his beliefs through his writings in which he stressed his critiques of Utilitarianism and Kantianism and emphasized the importance of moral rational. His study of both external and internal reasoning helped Williams to gain acknowledgement in the field; however, a great deal of debate was formed due to the fact that Williams agreed with the internal reasoning, but disagreed with the external reasoning. Although some philosophers

Utilitarianism, Duty Theory and Virtue Theory are the three ethical theories discussed in Chapter 1. Utilitarianism theory is a philosophy in which the happiness of the greatest number of people in society is considered the greatest good. Organization with a direction under the perspective of utilitarianism would be interested in spreading a positive feature or service for a wide sector of the population. For instance Feeding America which is a non-profit organization that is a nationwide network of food banks that feeds over 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies in communities across the United States. Feeding America doesn’t make products but they provide food products to the hungry. Feeding America would treat their employees with respect and encourage them to give back and customers would be thankful because they are being feed for free. Feeding America doesn’t manufacture food products but receive donations from companies and other charitable people. This non-profit is very successful because they fulfill their mission and people don’t question the company’s motives.

The welfarist component of utilitarianism denies the intrinsic value of any moral elements other than wellbeing. This assumption makes the utilitarian moral theory susceptible to the criticism that it undermines the moral significance of justice and law—something that many people assume to possess an absolute nature. However, in the following analysis, I’ll try to demonstrate that even in morally sophisticated cases, utilitarianism comes to the conclusion that may well explain our commonsense about law. Its real weaknesses lie in the consequentialist assumption, which may be potentially incompatible with a plausible theory on moral responsibility.

Utilitarianism is an ideological theory introduced by Jeremy Bentham in the late 1780s to assist in solving the recurrent and adverse ethical cases, which confronted institutions, organizations/companies, as well as the society. The utilitarianism is an idea that the overall utility contribution of an action, solely determines the moral worth of that action, that is, the general perception by the public on the contribution of such action to people's pleasure or happiness. With close reference, the utilitarian is thus termed as a form of consequentialism, that is, the result of an act determines its moral value. Bentham's utilitarian ethics thereby supposed that the entire morality emanates from the "enlightened self-interest". It also elicits that people who act habitually with a view of their own maximum satisfaction in the end, would forever act rightly (Miller & William, 1982). Because of the production and supply of transistors to a heart pacemaker company, the supplier company faces a confrontation by dilemma resulting from the ideological differences of the company's board of directors. This scenario comes out after the realization that this company is the remaining sole supplier of transistors to the heart pace-making company, after all other companies' realization of life and social impacts of their products to the society, which made them to quit the business. The dilemma is on whether to stop or continue with the supply of