2. What is the central idea (literary theme) of this film? Explain using examples from the film. (4pts.)
Today in class, I presented about reform ideas during the late 18th and 19th century in Russia, especially focusing on nihilism, socialism, and utilitarianism. The explanation of utilitarianism especially helped me to better understand the beliefs of several characters in Crime and Punishment. Utilitarianism is an ethical philosophy that focuses on promoting the happiness of the greatest number of people, even if it means harming a smaller group of people. Those who support utilitarianism believe that an action, such as murder or robber, is morally right if the outcome of the action brings happiness to a majority of the group.
The Terri Schiavo case was a huge start of the “Right to Die” movement, the underlying cause of Schiavo’s collapse was never given a diagnosis. Consequentialist moral theories focus on how much good can result from an action. Non Consequentialist moral theories or Deontological theories, consider not the consequences of an action but whether they fulfill a duty. Some theories that can be used include utilitarianism, Kant’s ethics and natural law theory. Being aware of the case already, I believe there should be some sort of law that gives doctors to comply with the wishes of the patient if they are in a lot of distress.
Consequentialism is based more around the consequence and final result of the actions. In our text book, Ethical Reasoning, it states that in consequentialism, “consequences count, not motives or intentions” (Pence, 2011). Non-consequentialism is based around the intention of one’s doing, regardless of the consequences. A particular action may be good for a business but not good for society or ones health. An example of this would be pharmaceutical companies raising the cost for medicine, this cause many patients to suffer or not be able to afford the medication they need. When a person is going to make a moral decision based on consequentialism, he or she first look at the good and bad possible consequences of the action, then determine whether the total good consequences outweigh the total bad.
Mills explains Utilitarianism as achieving life’s goals, it is what everyone wants or seek for. He further explains that utilitarianism promotes the quality of life. Furthermore, utilitarianism is connected to happiness, because we all seek to achieve different goals in life, and those goals are what makes up happy. We all want certain things in life, or want to achieve certain things. Utilitarianism promotes happiness, happiness exclude pain, suffering, struggles, stress, and anything that makes one ‘unhappy’ or ‘sad’. In other words, utilitarianism is ideal justification for living. Therefore, we should all strive for excellence and happiness, not just for ourselves, but also for others.
The City of Cypress, California Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) is led by Commissioner Johnnie Walker. As commissioner of DPCD, Mr. Walker provides leadership and policy direction for the Offices of Planning, Buildings, and Housing. He is also the overseer of all eminent domain cases within the city however he has never dealt with such a case until now. On one particular early Monday morning Commissioner Walker walked into his office to find a very interesting eminent domain case waiting on his desk. On his desk he found two very compelling arguments about the potential development of a church on private property. In the documents, Commissioner Walker read that Pastor Bayless Conely of the Cottonwood Christian Center
Moral theories are theories that help us distinguish between a right or a wrong action. Adequate moral theories help us understand that what we should or shouldn’t do in certain situations. Two of the most famous moral theories are Utilitarianism and Kantianism. According to Utilitarianism, an action is right if only if it out of all the other action gives out the maximum utility. In oppose to that, Kantianism says that an action is right if and only if, in performing that action, the person does not treat anyone as a mean and treats everyone as an end in itself.
John Stuart Mill, at the very beginning of chapter 2 entitled “what is utilitarianism”. starts off by explaining to the readers what utility is, Utility is defined as pleasure itself, and the absence of pain. This leads us to another name for utility which is the greatest happiness principle. Mill claims that “actions are right in proportions as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” “By Happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain, by happiness, pain and the privation of pleasure”. (Mill, utilitarianism, p.697)
In the movie, “The Minority Report,” a unique and interesting justice system is in use. Beings called precogs predict future murders and detectives have to stop it before it happens. The example in the clip we saw was of a man who was about to kill his wife and her lover. The precogs predicted this crime of passion and the detectives for the where, who, and why aspects of the crime in order to arrest the felon for the “future murder” of two people.
Behind every war, there is violence, death, and reasoning. Most of all, behind every war, the countries fighting are hoping and expecting change. The war in Iraq began because President Bush stated multiple times his issues with Iraq and that something needed to change. His reasoning was that Iraq had possession of weapons of mass destruction, those weapons were constantly developing, and that Iraq had a connection with Al Qaeda. A utilitarian would view this war and any war as morally wrong unless it obeys the points of the “just war theory” and Mill’s “greatest happiness principle.” To go deeper into the facts of the war in Iraq, one can conclude that the war was morally unjust because aspects of the just war theory were violated as well
Consequentialism is defined as the actions that should be more evaluated on the basis of the consequences. However, it’s the results from that particular consequence that actually strikes a nerve. In the mindset of utilitarian’s consequences focus on the happiness and pleasure of that particular end result. The understanding that the consequences are so good that it outweighs the negativity; maximizing happiness for all. However, for people such as Bernard Williams we shouldn’t regard consequences as happiness or pleasure for the multitude of people, but rather the happiness within ourselves. Williams reason in criticizing utilitarianism is because of their insensibility to recognize self-morality, self-dignity, personal commitment, and understanding the importance of integrity.
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
Decisions about right and wrong fill each and every day. Turmoil exists due to deciding if Deontology, where one acts based on the right motives, or if Utilitarianism, where one should act in a way that would produce the best results and consequences, should govern decisions and their morality. However, I believe Deontology, which is reason and duty based, serves as the superior way to dictate morality. In this paper, I will explain both the principles of Deontology and Utilitarianism, discuss the superior aspects of Deontology as compared to Utilitarianism, as well as grapple with objections to Deontology. While both ethical frameworks contain parts of ideologies that could be seen as valid, Kant’s theory on Deontology holistically remains
Consequentialists, as aforementioned, strive to create best overall consequences for the largest amount of people. Moral agents must aim to maximise happiness and minimise pain. ‘The ends may justify the means’ in this theory; any act may be permissible if the consequences are good and superior to those of any alternative act. Consequentialist theories come in two parts: theory of value and principles of rightness. Theory of value specifies criteria in virtue of what outcomes count as good or bad. Consequentialist theories can be distinguished based on their specific criteria of what is viewed as
Child labor is work that children should not be doing, work that may harm their health and keeps them without education. While working children have no time for attending schools and get education that is the most important thing for their future life and success. But not all work done by children should be accepted as child labor. In other words, if a work doesn’t harm child’s health or personal development (educational issues), it is generally accepted as something positive and useful. Such activities develop children’s skills, provide experience and formulate them to be part of society. The term “Child Labor” is when children do work that damages their health or hamper mental or physical