Ethics
PHI 1600
First Written Assignment.
Read Chapter 2 and watch Week 3 Lectures. Choose a contemporary moral issue in our society (week 3 folder) and apply the ethical principle of Utilitarianism to approve this moral issue. You must pick a moral issue that you strongly support and apply the utilitarian claims (week 3 folder) to back up your arguments. The paper must be done in MLA/APA format with a minimum of 500 words (quotes are not included in the word count).
*You must apply the Four major points of Utilitarianism (week 3 Lecture) apply Bentham’s Felicific Calculus 9 (week 3 folder) and apply the utilitarian claims (week 3 folder).
Principle of utility Study Guide: John Stuart Mill’s Ethics
Mill’s ethical theory Hedonic Utilitarianism, which is a form of consequentialism: The permissibility of actions is determined by examining their outcomes and comparing those outcomes with what would have happened if some other action had been performed.
Mill responds to Kant’s criticism of consequentialist moral theories by saying that Kant confuses act evaluation and agent evaluation. (Kant argued that consequences should not be used in evaluating actions because we have inadequate control over consequences, and our moral obligations extend only so far as our abilities. Instead, Kant examines our motives to determine the permissibility of our actions.) Mill says that the examination of motives is appropriate for agent evaluation, but not act evaluation. Mill also points out that a morally good person could – with the best of motives – perform an impermissible action.
Principle of Utility: An action is permissible if and only if the consequences of that action are at least as good as those of any other action available to the agent.
Hedonic Utilitarianism: Mill’s theory begins with the Principle of Utility, and then adds that the consequences that are of importance are happiness and unhappiness.
Contrast with Jeremy Bentham: Bentham, Mill’s teacher, held a similar moral theory, but said that the consequences we should examine are pleasure and pain. Mill says that by examining happiness and unhappiness he is including a new factor: the intellectual component.
dimension: the intellectual component. This has the result of making the pleasures and pains of animals count for much less.
Comparison with Satisficing Consequentialism: Mill says that for an action to be permissible it must have the best consequences. Satisficing consequentialism says that to be permissible its consequences have to be good enough.
Act vs. Rule Consequentialism: Act consequentialist theories (e.g., the theories of Bentham and J.S. Mill) evaluate actions on a case-by-case basis. Rule consequentialist theories say that an action is permissible only if it is in accord with the relevant rules. Rules are selected so that following them will
List of Contemporary Moral Issues
- Euthanasia
- Gun Control
- Infanticide
- Child Labor
- Gay Marriage
- Capital Punishment
- Stem Cells
- Genocide
- War, Terrorism, and Counterterrorism
- Race and Ethnicity
- Gender
- Transgender using Public Bathrooms
- World Hunger and Poverty
- Environmental Ethics
- Animal Rights
- Animal Testing
- Sexual Harassment
- Abortion (as a result of rape, incest, or mother/baby health at risk)
- Drug Legalization
- Media/Entertainment
- Voluntary Prostitution
- Forced Prostitution
- Health Care Costs
- Education Cost
Utilitarianism: is the ethical doctrine that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility.
It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the morality of an action is determined by its outcome
*the ends justify the means.
*Utility: the good to be maximized
Peter Singer defines it as the satisfaction of preferences.
* an action may be considered right if it produces the greatest amount of net benefit and the least loss/cost of any available alternative action.
* the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action.
*morally right action is one that produces a good outcome, or consequence.
* the good is whatever brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people.
* “the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
* calculate the utility of an action by adding up all of the pleasure produced and subtracting from that any pain that might also be produced by the action.
Utilitarianism approach to morality quantitative and reductionistic
Utilitarianism can be contrasted with deontological ethics – focuses on the action itself rather than its consequences
In general use the term utilitarian often refers to a somewhat narrow economic or pragmatic viewpoint.
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