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ETHICS

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ETHICS

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leslieracines65
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Sheinly Racines II-ABE 1

Assignment:
1. What is Utilitarianism?
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes. It is a form
of consequentialism. Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest
good for the greatest number.
2. What are the four elements of Utilitarianism? Discuss it.
Consequentialism
➢ is the view that one ought always to promote good outcomes.
➢ On this view, bringing about good outcomes is all that ultimately matters, from a moral
perspective. Thus, to evaluate whether to perform an action, we should look at its overall
consequences, rather than any of its other features (such as the type of action that it is). For
instance, when breaking a promise has bad consequences—as it usually does—
consequentialists oppose it. However, breaking a promise is not considered wrong in itself. In
exceptional cases, breaking a promise could be the morally best action available, such as when
it is necessary to save a life. The ends in this case justify the means.
➢ Consequentialism’s rivals offer alternative accounts of what one morally ought to do that
depend on features other than the value of the resulting outcome. Much of consequentialism’s
appeal may stem from the conviction that making the world a better place is simply more
important than any of these competing moral goals.
Welfarism
➢ is the view that only the welfare (also called well-being) of individuals determines the value of an
outcome.
➢ Specifically, from a welfarist perspective, good consequences are those which increase well-being in
the world, while bad consequences are those which decrease it. Philosophers use the term well-being
to describe everything that is good for a person in itself, as opposed to things only instrumentally good
for a person. For example, money can buy many useful things and is thus good for a person
instrumentally, but it is not a component of their well-being.
Impartiality
➢ is the view that the identity of individuals is irrelevant to the value of an outcome. Utilitarians hold,
more specifically, that equal weight must be given to the interests of all individuals.
➢ Accepting this conception of impartiality means treating well-being as equally valuable regardless of
when, where or to whom it occurs. As a consequence, utilitarians value the well-being of all individuals
equally, regardless of their nationality, gender, where or when they live, or even their species.
According to utilitarianism, in principle you should not even privilege the well-being of yourself or your
family over the well-being of distant strangers (though there may be good practical reasons to do so).
Aggregationism
➢ is the view that the value of the world is the sum of the values of its parts, where these parts are local
phenomena such as experiences, lives, or societies.
➢ When combined with welfarism and the equal consideration of interests, this view implies that we can
meaningfully add up the well-being of different individuals and use this total to determine which trade-
offs are worth making. For example, utilitarianism claims that improving five lives by some amount is
better than improving one life by the same amount, and that it is five times better.

3. What are the major assumptions of Utilitarianism?


➢ One of the main assumptions of Utilitarianism is that the main goal of the individual is pleasure. Mill
specifies that utility in its essence is pleasure itself and that the actions of the individual is predicated
upon achieving the greatest level of happiness possible. Another main concept of Utilitarianism is the
Greatest Happiness Principle, which states that actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong
if they promote the reverse of happiness. Mill elaborates by saying that the reverse of happiness would
be unhappiness or pain and that any experience is only desirable if and only if they are a source for
pleasure.
➢ The broadest assumption of utilitarian calculus is that measurement of an individual's happiness is
possible. This is the assumption that, for a given event, the net effect of positive and negative
repercussions that affect one person (or being) can be identified and assigned a value that is
adequately precise.

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