Introduction Can a rotten egg make a good Omelet? The end/means dilemma is an old and popular scenario. The answer to this question depends on what the type of goals or ends are and what means are being used to achieve them. Moreover, Gandhi, pioneer and a theorist of satyagraha said, “I feel that our progress towards the goal will be in exact proportion to the purity of our means”. Indeed, according to the Gandhian philosophy, the means and ends are like the two sides of the same coin. They are inseparable from each other. That is why, for example, Gandhi struggled whole life against British and never adopted the wrong means. I. Do ends ethically justify their means? Most people use the expression "the ends justify the means" as an excuse …show more content…
Therefore, this form of utilitarianism highlights that the most important is the happiness of everyone and not the happiness of any particular person. In order to explain this assertion, for example, take Hitler, if he has had conquered the Europe it would be a very good place to live for those who are Aryans, yet it would be terrifying for other people. It is make some suffer to make others prosper. I think correctly, that principles of this sort can have some pretty awful results because sometimes the greatest happiness of the greatest number involved disregarding the interests of a minority, even to the point of enslaving them or killing them This isn't the only objection to utilitarianism, but it’s an important and I believe a fatal …show more content…
For the Christian, there is no justifying immoral behavior, regardless of the outcome of it or the motivation for it. The Ten Commandments make it clear that stealing, lying, greed, murder, and adultery are unacceptable in God’s eyes and He makes no "escape clause" for rationalization or motivation. So, clearly, from God’s perspective, there are no ends that justify the means of breaking his law. Therefore, believer, have no reason whatsoever to break one of God’s commandments. Then, this assertion matches with Gandhi's words, “the Creator has given us control over means, none over the end". In order to explain this assertion, for example, a thief who justifies his stealing by claiming that it is done to help the poor, is a full-fledged criminal. Therefore, religion is one of the ways to justify means to
They also killed and continued to kill everyone who does not follow their rules. Although in both 1984 and Macbeth the solution or end is somewhat met, the end did not justify the means after all the
Hope is one of the main themes in the Star Wars saga. In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the audience is presented with nuanced characters who feel hopeful for peace and order in the galaxy, but also have contentious moral codes on their journey to achieve peace. One of the most significant character arcs in Rogue One is exemplified by Cassian Andor. His actions within the Rebellion are steeped in the hope that they will be victorious and defeat the Empire, but in doing so he has had to do things that are not completely noble. In this paper, I shall discuss the ethical framework of utilitarianism, as described by Jeremy Bentham and John Stewart Mills, and how it is the best lens to describes the actions of Cassian Andor in Rogue One.
As a college student, I am always keeping myself updated with different new university policies because many policies are impacting my college life. Although many policies are impacting me in school, college tuition is the most important to me. The increase of college tuition at U.C and CSU will cause many problems for students. The school administration thinks that is the time to increase student tuition, but students will not benefit from the increase. Therefore, my paper will offer a utilitarian evaluation of the recent CSU and UC increase in tuition, it will show that said policy is unethical from a business and social standpoint.
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
Hedonism and the desire-satisfaction theory of welfare are typically seen as archrivals in the contest over identifying what makes one’s life better. It is surprising, then, that the most plausible form of hedonism is desire satisfactionism. The hedonism theory focuses on pleasure/happiness while the desire-satisfaction theory elucidates the relevance of fulfilling our desires. Pleasure, in some points of view is the subjective satisfaction of desire. I will explain the similarities and the differences between the desire-satisfaction theory of value and hedonism.
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that focuses on outcomes and consequences. When one considers the theory of utilitarianism, it must be understood that the pleasure is a fundamental moral good and the aim is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. So, when a human is going through the decision making process it is of the utmost importance to look forward at the consequences of the decision and determine if the decision will maximize pleasure and minimize pain. John Stuart Mill, a nineteenth century philosopher focused on the theory of utilitarianism or the Greatest Happiness Principle and claimed that the maximization of happiness for the greatest quantity of people is the ultimate goal. One issue that we face in modern day America that
A number of problems surround the second question; the most obvious of which are limited time, the limited capacity of human foresight to calculate the maximum number of happiness, and the inability of the theory to advise on the time frame utilitarianism is to be applied to; how do you know the maximum number of happiness for the next 10 years doesn’t mean greater overall unhappiness in the next 50 years, so what time period should one keep in mind when considering an issue from a utilitarian stand point, 1 year, 5 years, 10, 20? This lack of clarity further adds to the impractical nature of the ideology. There are a myriad number of situations which seem very difficult to resolve without employing utilitarian principles and a very good example is the widespread use of utilitarian principles in bioethics. The best example here would obviously be the famous case of the conjoined twins Mary and Jodie. The facts in front of the court indicated that Mary was the parasitic twin who shared a heart with Jodie.
The problem with Utilitarianism is that it very easily justifies the oppression and abuse of minorities as long as the majority of people is better off because of it. Why would it be wrong to keep 10% of the population as slaves if 90% of the population never have to do hard or unpleasant work as a result? Why would it be wrong to simply kill people who aren't well liked by the majority if they all feel better as a result? The issue with a philosophy that bases whether something is good or evil purely on whether the majority or the minority are benefiting is simply a nightmare scenario for anyone who's part of a minority that is said to cause unhappiness for the majority. Like, the Empire in Star Wars is Utilitarian.
A man by the name of John Stuart Mill seems to be able to give us some answers to these questions. Mill starts our inquiring journey with defining what utilitarianism stands for. In short he states that it is the construction of utility, which claims that the actions that stimulate happiness in is morally fit and vice versa to be unfit. Happiness is something that we want for
The Evaluation of What Is Wrong with Slavery In the paper what is wrong with slavery, R.M. Hare argues that, according to utilitarianism, slavery is evil and should be abolished in every society. He discusses the definition of slavery, and after that shows imaginary cases to illustrate his ideas. However, does his argument make a cogent case? Is there any exceptions to his argument?
The Divine Command Theory The Divine Command Theory is an ethical theory that states that God decides what is morally right and what is morally wrong. The theory argues that to be morally good one must do what God says and abstain from doing what God forbids. The question that is going to be discussed in this essay is if The Divine Command Theory provides an acceptable account of what makes an action morally right and others morally wrong.
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
Utilitarianism is a very controversial theory. Many people disagree with this idea because it disrupts our personal relationships, it is too demanding, it promotes that the consequences are the only thing that matters, and shows that pleasures are the only things that are important. Classical Utilitarianism is based on three points; that morality of actions are only bases on consequences, the consequences only matter if it creates more or less happiness, and everyone gets equal considerations when it comes to happiness. The classical Utilitarianism was made and defended by three philosophers from 19th century England; John Mill, Jeremy Bentham, and Henry Sidgwick. These people help this theory to be highly influential in the modern era.
I say that most forms of universalised hedonism lead to an emphasis on unselfishness, because there is one obvious exception. It has sometimes been held that the greatest general good results from everyone pursuing his own interests as hard as he can without any regard to anyone else's. Clearly such a view leaves room for unselfishness only in a very paradoxical sense. The only way in which I can display unselfishness, in the sense of a proper recognition of other people's interests, is by behaving in the sort of way normally regarded as thoroughly selfish. Unselfishness in the ordinary sense is for such a view as this not a virtue but a vice.
Now that is my example of how the ends justifies the means. The President of the USA, and perhaps high officers had to weigh the ends so as to justify the means of how to bring an end to war with Japan. Japan started it by bombing Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941. I am certain no sane Americans wished to kill thousands of Japanese people, as well as innocent kids. However, the war may have continued on for years.