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Utilitarianism: Morally Right Or Wrong?

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Utilitarianism is when an effort is made to try and provide an answer to a practical question. Utilitarianism relies on a theory of intrinsic value. They believe it’s possible to compare the intrinsic value to compare two actions and predict which one would have a better consequence. Utilitarian’s don’t always refer to a choice as a moral issue (West). According to Mill, “acts should be classified as morally right or wrong only if the consequences are of such significance that a person would wish to see the agent compelled, not merely persuaded, and exhorted, to act in a preferred matter. A moralist can sum up the units of pleasure and the units of pain for everyone likely to be affected, immediately and in the future, and could take the balance as a measure of the overall good or evil tendency of an action” (West). The moral value of an action can be based on what is called hedonism. This says the only thing can be good is pleasure or happiness. Utilitarianism shows how moral questions can have objectively true answers. This provides a method to figure out …show more content…

He also does not think you deserve moral credit when you do the right thing to someone because you expect to get something out of it. Kant believes that if you do something that benefits you it’s easy and doesn’t require much effort and you aren’t going out of your way to help someone else. He says that when you do the right thing it’s because it’s your duty and morally right and you know that you did the right thing and made a difference. It required some actual time and effort that didn’t benefit you in anyway except that it’s your duty. Kant feels that we must use reason and logic to get credit and you know when you have done the right thing. Then after performing these duties and using reason you will deserve moral credit and know that what you did was the right thing to do

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