ipl-logo

Consequences Of Utilitarianism Approach

640 Words3 Pages

Utilitarianism ethics falls in the under the consequentialism approach which determines an action is wrong or right by its consequences. Utilitarianism is an ethics principle which advocates that actions are either good or bad by the results they produce. If the action brings pleasure to the greatest number of people then it is good, if the result causes pain and grief, it is bad. Therefore, the end justifies the means – if the act will in due course bring happiness and pleasure, “the greater good”, then that act is ethical. If the act ultimately brings pain and grief to the majority of the people, then that act is unethical. Some actions cannot be evaluated until the ultimate consequences become known in the future. According to Bentham, to consider act good it has to result in …show more content…

When this becomes known, another round of riots would ensure killing innocent people and their property thus making the testimony self-defeating. 2) It would be unjust to frame an innocent person for a crime he did not commit, such an act would cause so much grieve to him and his family that any good that would have come out of it would be negligible. Justice is giving each person each his/her due or what he/she deserves. It really would be unfair to falsely accuse another person to salvage a situation which might not be contained for a long time. 3) Consequences of bearing false witness are unknowable. The utilitarian may think that bearing false witness will stop the killings but it may turn out the other way because he does not know how the people in this situation will react to his testimony. It could lead to his death or persecution. 4) The utilitarianism approach though popular and seeking to please the majority, it is not enough to provide solid moral answers in all situations.

Show More
Related

  • Utilitarianism In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1673 Words  | 7 Pages

    Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong when looking at the outcomes. It believes that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number. Consequentialism is found in utilitarianism; consequentialism is largely thought about during war. When you fight for your life in war, you end up taking another person's life. While this may be good for your country, it is hurting a different country.

    Read More

  • Act Utilitarianism Essay

    362 Words  | 2 Pages

    Now we have a justifiable reason not to kill, because killing someone deprives them of the happiness they enjoyed while be alive, and we can also conclude that there is a justifiable reason to kill when life holds more unhappiness than happiness according act utilitarianism. For example someone who is suffering through a terminal illness

    Read More

  • Importance Of Utilitarianism In Marketing To Children

    1312 Words  | 6 Pages

    It states that an action which is deemed right is one that has not merely some good consequences, but also the greatest amount of good consequences possible when the negative consequences are also given due considerations. According to the utilitarian principle, the righteousness of an action is solely judged on the basis of its consequences. Classical utilitarianism determines the balance of pleasure and pain for each individual affected by the action in question as well as the amount of utility for the whole

    Read More

  • Utilitarianism Evaluation Paper

    611 Words  | 3 Pages

    Utilitarianism is one of the best-known theory under the consequentialism, and its idea is the Greatest Happiness Principle(GHP). According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Utilitarian believe that the purpose of morality is to

    Read More

  • Essay On Utilitarianism

    1659 Words  | 7 Pages

    Utilitarianism is a morally demanding position for two reasons, First reason is it theory asks us to do the most to maximize utility not to do the minimum and second reason is to set aside

    Read More

  • Deontology Vs Utilitarianism

    1515 Words  | 7 Pages

    The morality of an action is determined by the outcome of that action. At an initial glance, Utilitarianism seems as if it would be a superior way to live a life full of good will, as it is focused on doing the most

    Read More

  • Terri Schiavo Case Summary

    1212 Words  | 5 Pages

    As we know consequentialism is the focus of an action that does more intrinsically good than bad, one kind of consequentialist theory is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is an action that produces consequences that are more good over bad for everyone involved. In order to produce an action that is the best one a utilitarianist would consider both long and short term effects. Two sub categories of utilitarianism include act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. act utilitarianism bases an action on the overall well being produced by an individual.

    Read More

  • Objection To Act Utilitarianism

    1217 Words  | 5 Pages

    Utilitarianism is the moral theory that the action that people should take it the one that provides the greatest utility. In this paper I intend to argue that utilitarianism is generally untenable because act and rule utilitarianism both have objections that prove they cannot fully provide the sure answer on how to make moral decisions and what will be the ultimate outcome. I intend to do this by defining the argument for act and rule utilitarianism, giving an example, presenting the objections to act and rule utilitarianism and proving that utilitarianism is untenable. Both act and rule utilitarianism attempt to argue that what is right or wrong can be proven by what morally increases the well being of people. Act utilitarianism argues that

    Read More

  • Strengths And Weaknesses Of Utilitarianism

    1711 Words  | 7 Pages

    Commonly, ethical systems are categorized into two major systems. The deontological approaches or normative ethical position which judges an action based on the adherence of the action to certain rules and the teleological approaches which judges primarily based on the consequences of an action (Hare, 1964). The Utilitarianism is assigned to the teleological approaches, as it does not evaluate an action by itself but by it’s

    Read More

  • Essay On Divine Command Theory

    1218 Words  | 5 Pages

    The main principle of utilitarianism is happiness. People who follow this theory strive to fulfill the “ultimate good”. The “ultimate good” is defined as ultimate pleasure with out any pain. It is said that the pleasure can be of any quantity and any quality, but pleasures that are weighted more important are put at a higher level than others that are below it. This ethical theory also states that if society would fully embrace utilitarianism then people would naturally realize their moral standing in the

    Read More

  • Utilitarianism In Computer Science

    1239 Words  | 5 Pages

    The utilitarianism is common approach to make ethical decisions. The main point of this approach is that you have to make that decision which comes with the most utility. The utility in this approach can be described as „The good”, and the opposite of this is „the bad”. This means that in Computer Science you have to produce a computer programme or a hardware, which produces the largest amount of good , and during the producing phase, it makes the least amount of bad, for all who are affected: customers, employees, and even the enviroment. With the utilitarian viewpoint people can make right, and ethical decisions, for instance if you produce a programme which can make life easier for millions of people, you should not sell it for extremly

    Read More

  • Are The Similarities Between Bentham And John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism

    908 Words  | 4 Pages

    As per this theory the outcome of any action should minimize the pain and maximize the pleasure. The utilitarianism have two groups one is the Act utilitarian’s focun on the effects of individual actions (Such as Nathuram Godse’s assassination of Mahatma Gandhi) and another is rule utilitarian’s those focus on the effects of types of actions (such as killing or stealing) Utilitarians believe that the purpose of morality is to make life better by increasing the amount of good things (such as pleasure and happiness) in the world and decreasing the amount of bad things (such as pain and unhappiness). They reject moral codes or systems that consist of commands or taboos that are based on customs, traditions, or orders given by leaders

    Read More

  • Preference Utilitarianism Theory Analysis

    1225 Words  | 5 Pages

    To use preference utilitarianism to make ethical decisions, would require us to look at and weigh the preferences of all of these beings involved in the situation, not just our own personal interests. However,

    Read More

  • Is Utilitarianism Relevant In Today's Society

    494 Words  | 2 Pages

    Utilitarianism is a moral philosophy that is credited to being created by Jeremey Bentham. Bentham believed that all humans make choices based on two feelings, pain and pleasure. Because of this, Bentham believed that motives are not good or bad in nature but instead on what feeling a human might feel more.

    Read More

  • Utilitarianism In Business Ethics

    1685 Words  | 7 Pages

    Utilitarianism is a teleological ethical theory based on the idea that an action is moral if it causes the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. The theory is concerned with predicted consequences or outcomes of a situation rather than focusing on what is done to get to the outcome. There are many forms of utilitarianism, having been introduced by Jeremy Bentham (act utilitarianism), and later being updated by scholars such as J.S. Mill (rule utilitarianism) and Peter Singer (preference utilitarianism). When referring to issues of business ethics, utilitarianism can allow companies to decide what to do in a given situation based on a simple calculation. Many people would agree that this idea of promoting goodness

    Read More

More about Consequences Of Utilitarianism Approach

Open Document