Utilitarianism Vs Virtue Ethics

In the past few months I have been introduced to several different ethical theories, but three of those theories stood out in my mind, Deontological theory, Consequentialist ethics Rule Utilitarianism and Virtue Ethics theory. Deontological theory a non-consequentialist theory that does not accept consequences as the basis of right and wrong, but focus instead on our duties and intentions of one’s action. On the other hand, Rule Utilitarianism, a consequentialist theory that defines a morally right rule or practice as one that promotes overall good. Virtue ethics believes that one has to have specific character traits like loyalty, compassion and generosity that have moral values in a person without any underline principles or actions guiding them.

Morality is a complicated matter, one which requires rationality, but is often driven by emotions. A person’s behavior is almost completely driven by emotions and often times emotions are what tell us when something might be wrong or right. Motivation also comes from emotions, so without feelings of anger, depression, frustration and the like we would hardly ever do anything in order to change things in our lives (Shafer-Landau, 2015, p. 258). Virtue ethics then is concerned with what makes a person virtuous versus vicious when it comes to making moral decisions, with emotions playing an important role. In this paper, I support Aristotle’s emphasis on emotions as a key to being virtuous, especially since emotions tell us what is important and motivate us to act (Shafer-Landau, 2015, p. 257-258).

In the omission on application situation it poses the question on what Grace should do. Should she lie and possibly be fired, but take the risk and get the job? Or should she tell the truth and there is a chance she will get the job but the chance is greatly decreased? I am going to discuss which side I would take. Also what good and negative things come out of both sides and which ones outway the others. The views of the Kantian and the principle of universalizability and not ever lying are both good points that should be brought up and I will discuss both, and my view on them. Also the Utilitarian view on the happiness calculus and always choosing the act that will have the greatest overall happiness outcome is another great view that I will

In competitions, people strive for an honorable win. To act in an unethical way, could cause that win to be considered tarnished. A philosopher named John Stuart Mill believes the idea that quality should be more important than quantity. Honorable wins are viewed more highly than the ability to have many wins. The way a player plays a sport can often define the person themselves. That person may be considered to have qualities that are good, bad, or neutral depending on the way they play. Honor is a word closely associated with the sport of golf. This is a sport unlike many others where only you and your opponent can call the shots and be the referees. This means you must call penalties on yourself sometimes and this can often lead to some

Utilitarianism enables people who don’t believe in God to lead a moral life without following the Bible. Some people prefer logical reasoning rather than biblical principles. Therefore, we can definitely say utilitarianism can replace revelation.

Based on the traditional utilitarianism, founded by philosophers and political radical, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, they declare that an action is ethical if it maximizes utility/benefits, pleasure, and happiness over harms. In order to take a decision, they assume that decisions are quantifiable where we can add the quantities of benefits produced, then subtract from the quantities of harms the action will produce. Based on their philosophy of utilitarianism, the action is deemed ethical if the overall consequences bring maximum happiness.

The philosophical division that deals with studying morality is ethics. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ethics as the “area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behavior.” Two specific schools of ethical thought are consequentialism and utilitarianism. Consequentialism states that rightness of actions depends on the results of that action and utilitarianism states that the right actions are the ones that benefit the well-being of the most people (Vaughn 135). While both schools of thought may seem glorious, they have their share of issues.

Ethics is the system of rules that governs the ethical systems of values. In class, we defined four universal principles of ethics: universalism, egoism, utilitarianism, relativism, and virtue ethics. Of the four listed above, I agree with the utilitarianism concept. Utilitarianism is an ethical system stating that the greatest good for the number should be the overriding concern of decision makers. I believe of the four approaches, utilitarianism is the best option for multiple reasons. It makes the decision-maker appear and act selflessly, work for the greater good, and ultimately listen to the majority of the individuals they are representing by doing what they ask/request.

Being part of this group and not an experience climber, I think virtue ethic would be utilized first than utilitarianism would be the theory I would use to make my decision. People’s positioning should not dictate rather they should or should not help mankind, but with the world the media and the internet influence it to be, people may choose another route rather than the ethical one. There are many headlines of foreigner trying to help someone in need, but later found out that it was a setup and ended badly. With this in mind, my first step would be to convince the group to help this man until the very end, but if that action would have fail, I would then join the group utilizing the utilitarianism theory and continue on the hike.

The first step in analyzing moral issues is to ascertain all the facts. This critical step is part of performing due diligence when attempting to analyze moral issues. Without a complete set of facts, one cannot form a well-conceived opinion in regards to the issue presented.

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.

According to utilitarianism, all the actions that an individual chooses to perform at any particular time must be geared toward achieving happiness. Utilitarianism also focuses on doing what is morally right always such that all the decisions that the individual decides to take are acceptable in the community. It also states that one should always consider fulfilling what is valuable to their life and those that would lead to happiness. An individual should then combine these thoughts with actions to produce acceptable and happy outcomes. According to Jeremy Bentham, he believed that utilitarianism would be maximized when people decided to do what is morally right. He combines the theory into what is valuable and the actions, for those things that are valuable, all revolve around happiness. The theory of Right Action then maximizes the utilitarianism theory as he suggests.

On September 18, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused Volkswagen of cheating on the emissions tests (epa.gov). Volkswagen had become extremely popular around the world due to the advertising on the eco-friendly car. Volkswagen was advertising on the Super Bowl commercials, social media and much more. For seven years they had a false advertisement. It was a false advertisement because everything they were advertising was invalid. People were being lied about what they were purchasing. Volkswagen had installed a software into the diesel engine (Goodman, 1). A deontologist, utilitarian and virtue ethicist could describe the action taken place by Volkswagen on a philosophical view. A deontologist, utilitarian, and a virtue ethicist have different ways of describing what is good and bad. Good means pleasant or enjoyment and bad means unpleasant or low standard. Although, all the three major

When it comes to faith, there are many different interpretations. There are people in the world who believe that faith is going to church, or another place of worship), reading the bible or another holy word, and praying or worshipping. Other people believe in spirituality with no designated religious affiliation. There are also people who do not believe in spirituality or religion. No matter which of these is the case, what you believe or specifically do not believe affects how you react to different situations ethically. Your ethics are developed by your faith or lack thereof.

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.