Ethics Utilitarianism Essay - 805 Words

The theory behind utilitarianism is that one’s actions are right if it promotes happiness or pleasure and wrong if it does not promote happiness or pleasure. The main point to this theory is the principle of utility that states â€Å"according to which actions should be chosen that bring about the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.† (Palmer) Jeremy Bentham gave essentially utilitarianism its name and brought more attention to it than those before him. Bentham came up with a guide named the calculus of felicity that included seven categories for choosing among different possible activities to promote one’s happiness or pleasures. John Stuart Mills, also an utilitarian, added to Bentham’s calculus because he did†¦show more content†¦The â€Å"higher† desires are the ones dealing with quality. Mills’ theory suggests that the lower quality pleasures are those of the body and the pleasures of the mind are the higher quality pleasures. Mills thought higher of the pleasures of intellect than that of pleasing our bodies. An example of this is giving someone a choice of having the price of beer reduced or continue paying to keep teachings of Shakespeare in schools. I believe Mills’ concern was that some people would most likely choose taking a price reduction in beer over Shakespeare. This would not be Mills’ choice and he would think this as humans satisfying his or her lower quality pleasures. Williams believes that utilitarianism decisions are not based on any kind of moral ground and looks out for one’s self interest only. Williams believes in a deeper meaning to things based on morals for not only oneself but of others also. Williams gives a story in his writing of a man named George. George has been offered a job in a laboratory in which the research is in chemical and biological warfare. George refuses the job because he is opposed to biological nd ch emical warfare. The man offering the job doesn’t understand George’s decision because George has a wife and kids at home to support. The utilitarianist would agree that George should take the job. I believe Williams’ problem with this is the bigger picture that George is opposed to what the company stands for and theShow MoreRelatedUtilitarianism And Deontological Ethics : Utilitarianism3422 Words   |  14 Pages UTILITARIANISM AND DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS 13 Utilitarianism and Deontological Ethics Christopher Kearney Student ID 4697583 American Public University System (AMU) Dr. Robert Watkins September 21,2017 Abstract Usefulness and duty are two of the primary drivers that cause people to take action or not. Usefulness of an action means that the society receives the greatest amount of benefits from the action (or actions) of an individual(s). On the otherRead MoreDuty Ethics Vs. 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