Assess Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a consequentialist approach to ethics, meaning the consequences of an act are what matters. The utilitarian answer as to what to do in any situation is that we should always act to maximise utility. There are two different interpretations of utilitarianism; the positive being that we ought to do that which brings about the greatest happiness of the greatest number and the negative being that we ought to do that which minimises pain or suffering. Utilitarianism is teleological, or goal orienteered, meaning that the end matters more than the means used to achieve the end. The various forms present two major problems; the problem of justice, and the issue of having to predict the consequences of an action.
Not may people worship it.Solipsism is the belief that nothing exists beyone ones own mind. NOt many people like
Explain how Bentham’s version of Utilitarianism may be used to decide on the right course of action. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory of ethics. It is a method that looks at the consequences of an action to deice whether it is right or wrong; this also makes it a consequentialist theory. In the eighteenth century Hutchenson first used the phrase ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’ which he used to describe the political systems. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) then decided to develop his idea of Utilitarianism from this quote and apply it to all areas of social activity.
Explain the concept of moral self and personality in Libertarianism. Libertarianism is the view that we are free to act however we are morally responsible for all those actions. Moral self and personality are two important concepts in Libertarianism. Moral self is how we decide what is right and and personality is an empirical concept, it is influenced by psychological factors such as gene, society and environment. Personality and moral self explain how and why human beings make free choices.
Criminal justice as rational is a perspective of the criminal justice system that adopts the utilitarian belief that human beings are reasonable and rational creatures. A utilitarian study means that everything is valuable; it has a utility or useful purpose, (Gorkoff, Personal Communication October 2012.) Jeremy Bentham focuses on the principles of utility. In his writing, ‘An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation,’ he shows that people have two measures of action; ones that determine pain and those that bring pleasure, both governments and individuals consider these actions when creating, maintaining, enforcing and following laws, (Gorkoff, Personal Communication October 2012.) Bentham states that; “pleasures then, and the avoidance of pains, are the ends which the legislator has in view,” (Bentham, pg 106), meaning that crime and action are determined by the end goal of whether it brings pleasure or pain to the individual.
Mill’s Theory of Utility Modern ethical theory is rooted in the ethical value of an individual action rather than the excellence of the individuals’ manners of living like in ancient Greek ethics. In modern theory, like Mill and Kant, we look at what is a good or right action compared to a bad or wrong one. There are two kinds of modern theory one of which is Mills’ theory of utility or utilitarianism. Mill’s theory involves the idea of “consequentialism” meaning that the ethical value of an action depends on the consequences of that action and what these effects have on happiness. Mill explains that utility can be understood in terms of pleasure and the absence of pain and not just by the usefulness of something (Module 7.1).
In this case, the cause would be social conditioning – Baroch Spinoza said that although we may think that we are free, we are not, we are merely aware of our actions. “In the mind there is no absolute or free will; but the mind is determined to will this or that by a cause, which has been determined by another cause, and this last by another cause, and so on until infinity.” This emphasizes the fact that we are contingent beings, and that although we feel that we have options in life, the choices that we make are in the end determined my one single factor, which started a chain reaction creating the world we live in today. The surrounding and environment we are brought up into and therefore the upbringing and social conditioning we receive it determined. Our actions are due to how
Mainstream rational choice theorists argue that individuals are purely motivated by self-interest. This approach supports the argument that ‘individuals have all the rational capacity, time and emotional detachment necessary to choose the best course of action’, this theory deems that individuals are programmed to be able to take into consideration the results of hypothetical (options that only exist in theory) actions, and place in order of preference, choosing the option that maximises their utility. Zafirovski highlights that, ‘Rational choice theory is grounded on the neo-classical economic model of rationality with its basis in the concept of utility function’, this emphasises the actions of the individual, likening their profit maximising predispositions to that of the manufacturer and consumer in neo-classical economics. The concept of rational choice has even been broadened to cover the issue of extremism, such as terrorism, arguing that rational actors martyr
The principle of utility defines how right an act is. It supports or disapproves a certain action. In other words, the moral significance of an action which could be, morally correct or morally incorrect is determined by the resulting outcome. The principle of utility brings out two outcomes; happiness or pain. When any action is done, it may have a right outcome which leads to happiness or a wrong outcome which produces pain.
How did it get to this point? A background in elitism according to Abramowitz stems from the ideology of self reliance and personal freedom. The main idea is that the individual is responsible for themselves in order to achieve the greatness that they desire. The main issue is that those who achieve restrict those who are not at their level from being heard. The counter to elitism are the theories of egalitarianism and populism, which are doctrines in which they support the rights and powers of the common people in their ongoing struggle with the political elitism, they believe that all people are equal.