Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) then decided to develop his idea of Utilitarianism from this quote and apply it to all areas of social activity. Bentham was a hedonist believing that pleasure was the chief ‘good’ and that all aspects of life should maximize pleasure and minimize pain and those that did were the most moral acts. He created the principle of utility which established whether an action was good or bad according to the benefits to the majority amount of people. This is sometimes described as ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’ of people making Bentham’s theory quantitative. Bentham said ‘the principle of utility aims to promote happiness which is the supreme ethical value.’ In determining how to measure different amounts of pleasure and deciding on the right and good thing to do Bentham came up with the Hedonistic Calculus.
They also believe that a person's subjective view of the world is more important than objective reality. The humanistic perspective on personality deals exclusively with human behavior. Humanistic psychologists believe that human nature includes a natural drive towards personal growth, that we as humans have the ability to choose what they do regardless of environment, and that humans are pretty much conscious beings that are not controlled by unconscious needs and conflicts. Two major theorists associated with this theory of personal development that impacted humanism are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Humanism places an emphasis on the assumption that all humans are inherently good in nature and possess free will.
Natural Moral Law is a theory that is explained by Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle. It states that there is a natural order to our world that should be followed. It was originated in the philosophy of Aristotle and then developed by Aquinas. Natural Law is an absolute theory of ethics but it is not rooted in duty but in our human nature and our search for genuine happiness and fulfilment. Aquinas considered that by using our reason to reflect on our human nature we could discover our specific end purpose.
Morality is not simply about avoiding the wrong, but is also about doing what is virtuous. This theory is secular in the fact that it is non religious and therefore universal as it can be applied to all, and we all strive for happiness. Virtue ethics also values morality for its instrumental worth as when people acquire good habits of character, they are better able to regulate their emotions and their reason. This, in turn, helps us reach morally correct decisions when we are faced with difficult scenarios. Furthermore it emphasises the need for people to break bad habits of character, as they prevent one from achieving full happiness and being a moral person.
It is culture that is the building block of one’s moral beliefs. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the “Classical Theories of Morality” and the relevance of these theories to cultural identity. Aristotle’s theory suggests that every action is aimed at some good and good is the object of these actions. Aristotle defines the good as happiness (Kucukuysal and Beyhan, 2011). Happiness and good are synonymous across cultures with living well.
Utilitarianism is concerned with consequences that maximize benefits and thus decisions are easier to make than an ethical theory based on moral judgments 3 points Question 13 1. The ___________ egoist says she should seek always and only her individual good; the ___________ egoist says that every individual should seek always and only his or her own good. Answer Universal; Individual Psychological; Ethical Individual; Universal Narcissistic; Hedonistic 3 points Question 14 1. Ethical egoism seeks a social order where conflicting self-interests can be brought together in a peaceable and orderly way. Answer True False 3
The various forms present two major problems; the problem of justice, and the issue of having to predict the consequences of an action. One variant within utilitarianism is Hedonistic or Classic utilitarianism. Which looks at the view ‘what is good for an individual is what tends to promote happiness or pleasure to the individual’. This holds that the only intrinsic good is pleasure, and that the only intrinsic bad is pain. Everything else is good only insofar as it creates pleasure, and bad only insofar as it creates pain.
Utilitarianism is consequentalist ethical theory. When an action is judged entirely on the utility. So an action would be determined on the outcome and the consequences. In utilitarianism the utility of an action is decided on how much pleasure and happiness is gained from it, so it is about maximising happiness as much as possible rather than gaining pain and sadness. The two most well known utilitarian’s are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.
In one of the abstracts in Bentham’s Principles of Morality and Legislation, Bentham states that the judgement or criterion of good and evil is balanced between the happiness of individuals and the happiness of the community (Utilitarian Philosophy, 2010). On the other hand, consequentialism in utilitarianism is based on the fact that human beings are judged based on consequences. In other words, “an action must be judged for its consequences on the happiness of the largest number of people” (Utilitarian Philosophy, 2010). To be more specific, according to
For utilitarian school of thought, an individual strives to do the most good, even at the expense of the minority. Utilitarianism and Kantianism find the basis of their differences in the idea that the ends justify the means. Utilitarian beliefs support this idea while Kantian philosophy rejects this. Modern ethics were devised from these two basic ethical beliefs in an attempt to combine the best aspects. Generally, the morally “right” action benefits the majority while affecting the fewest amount in a negative way.