Utilitarianism Happiness At The End

Utilitarianism 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.

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.

In this paper I will present and critically assess the concept of the principle of utility as given by John Stuart Mill. In the essay “What Utilitarianism Is” #, Mill presents the theory of Utilitarianism, which he summarizes in his “utility” or “greatest happiness principle” # (Mill 89). Mill’s focus is based on an action’s resulting “happiness,” # pleasure and absences of pain, or “unhappiness,” # discomfort and the nonexistence of contentment, rather than the intentions involved (Mill 89). After evaluating Mill’s principle, I will then end this essay by discussing my personal opinion about the doctrine and how I believe it can be altered to better suit real-life situations.

In today 's society, we face many obstacles in our attempt to achieve the feeling of happiness. As intelligent beings, we try to solve these problems by taking the path that best benefits us. The theory of utilitarianism provides a solution to this but at what cost? What are the benefits and disadvantages of utilitarianism? Is utilitarianism an idea one should live by? What is utilitarianism? I plan on answering these questions within this paper and understand how they relate to everyday life. I will also look at arguments for and against utilitarianism. Then analyze the appealing and unappealing features to determine if utilitarianism should be followed as an absolute rule.

“The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.” ― Leon Trotsky. Utilitarianism, simply defined is the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This is a very old philosophy that is believed to be founded by Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher and social reformer. Utilitarianism is a complex issue, it is one that many struggles with. Many people do not like this view because they simply do not like other people, in fact, James Alan Gardner went so far as to boldly say “I do not care about the greatest good for the greatest number . . . Most people are poop-heads I do not care about them at all.”. Many agree with what he says although they may not agree with how he says it. It is a view that has been argued upon for over a hundred years. Many people say that it is always right while some say it is dependent upon the scenario and then you have the people like James Alan Gardner who would flat out say it is wrong. This paper will present the views of Utilitarianism, elaborate on them and proceed to explain how we may or may not apply them in our own Christian context.

Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a moral theory that has long been the subject of philosophical debate. This theory, when practiced, appears to set a very basic guideline to follow when one is faced with a moral dilemma. Fundamental Utilitarianism states that when a moral dilemma arises, one should take action that causes favorable results or reduces less favorable results. If these less favorable results, or pain, occur from this action, it can be justified if it is produced to prevent more pain or produce happiness. Stating the Utilitarian view can summarize these basic principles: "the greatest good for the greatest number". Utilitarians are to believe that if they follow this philosophy, that no matter what action they take, it

Explain in your own words the logic of Mill’s argument, and critically discuss whether happiness should be the criterion of morality.

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

Utilitarian views are based on the production of happiness, pleasure, and utility. Our actions as human beings are judged as right or wrong. Moral actions in society produce pleasure and immoral actions produce pain. Utilitarianism focuses on actions that should be taken for a society not for just one person. The whole idea is to maximize happiness, do what will produce more pleasure for all and not what will bring pain for all. The Katian perspective focuses on universal rights, not just on a community as a whole but also on an individual. Honesty is very important because it is morally right. Doing something just because it produces a lot of pleasure to many people does not mean that it is right. Katian views goes against Utilitarian views because Kant does not believe that pleasure and happiness of all should go over an individual. Just because there is a majority in favor of a rule does not make it fair for all. According to utilitarianism it is unjust for the government to lie about matters of foreign and military policy because you are supposed to maximize the benefits for the community as a whole to produce happiness. In the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution we see that there is a maximizing of benefits but for the government officials and president not the people. The government is only focused on themselves and not on the people who should be their main focus and priority. Before taking any action the government should evaluate all of the possible actions and the

The Pursuit of Happyness Abstract Some of the most common themes in contemporary biographical films revolve around social life as well as the accompanying problems that living in today's society entails. By making connections to individual personal lives, these films help most people make sense of the world in which they live. In this regard, this paper focuses on the film, The Pursuit of Happyness outlining various cultural issues as well as problems faced by the starring; Will Smith playing Chris Gardner in the movie. Moreover, the paper discusses how such factual films reflect and create popular ideas about social problems.

THEORY--      The theory of Utilitarianism states that actions should be judged as right or wrong depending on whether they cause more happiness or unhappiness. It weighs the rightness and wrongness of an action based on consequences of that action.

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

Utilitarian reasoning looks at the overall good that can result from a decision and whether the benefits outweigh the costs. From this standpoint, April would consider the bottom line or end results of her decision. She would consider measurable economic indicators, such as increased sales, profits, and greater brand awareness. She could also consider the social and human benefits such as employee morale and the rights of the bloggers, but these factors are difficult to measure. Utilitarian reasoning would suggest April somehow try to acknowledge the bloggers’ desire to attend the conference and offer something to them in a way that is mutually beneficial. If Carolina Pad is unwilling to provide financial sponsorship, perhaps the company could offer alternatives such as free school supplies for their family or provide financial incentives to the bloggers for the amount of online traffic generated from their Carolina Pad blogs and contests. Carolina Pad could host an online contest to give away free admission to the conference and a hotel package to a select number of winners. They could also be a vendor at the mommy blogger conference to promote the product lines and establish relationships with other mommy bloggers. They could host a free breakfast at the conference for anyone interested in learning more about their products and becoming a blogger.

Numerous moral theories have surfaced in the past years. They have been widely debated by philosophers and social reformers. It is important to understand what these theories are because of their influential tendencies in the way people act, especially in making morally right or wrong decisions. Utilitarianism is one of these many moral theories. Upon further analysis, problems with utilitarian thoughts are revealed. It has been widely debated by many philosophers, including G.E. Moore and Immanuel Kant. Like these two philosophers, I argue that utilitarianism is inadequate because of its contradictory nature as a moral theory. It highlights the principle of utility in seeking the greatest pleasure, allowing egotistic and hedonistic actions to be considered moral.

In the ethical theory of utilitarianism, an act is considered ethical based on how many people gain happiness from an act. Unlike egoism, in utilitarianism the happiness of everyone is equally consider. In order to figured out what acts are giving the most happiness to the most people there are different calculations. The first calculations that is use is pleasure minus pain. In order to figured it out, you would calculate how many people would receive pleasure from the information that was gather in the experiments and subtract the number of people who would experience pain from that information. If the number of people who experience pain from this information being used is greater from the number of people who would experience pleasure,