It appeared late in what scholars define as the first period of Beethoven's career, just a year or two before the crisis brought about by his gradual loss of hearing. By the mid-1790s, Beethoven had tried most of the important instrumental genres, save for symphony and string quartet. Those were the pieces in which his teacher Haydn had made his greatest mark and enjoyed his most significant successes. When Beethoven did come forward with his first symphonies, he built on the achievements of Haydn and Mozart while not hiding his debt to them. Contemporaries reacted to the work of Beethoven by using the word "masterpiece" repeatedly and praising its "originality."
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), an English philosopher and the most prominent name in relation of the founding of utilitarianism, described utilitarianism as “the greatest happiness for the greatest felicity of people”. Bentham believed that morality did not depend on faithfulness to abstract views derived from the teachings of Jesus. He however looked upon morality as an effort to produce as much happiness as possible in the world. Moreover utilitarianism is the ethical theory embracing that the morally right course of action is the action which results in the most happiness and maximizes the overall good in the world. This indicates that utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism as what is viewed to a morally correct action is based upon the actions outcome.
The concept of utilitarianism has the ability to be seen from many different viewpoints. While Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are two of the greatest believers in utilitarianism of our time, they seem to clash on many issues, such as whether certain concrete things are required in order to achieve true happiness, or whether the concept of happiness is more of a grey area and if one is willing to achieve happiness, he or she should merely live life by his or her own values and rules. Bentham seems to agree with the latter and believes that all pleasures are equal, and if one enjoys something, no one should tell that person otherwise whether he or she is living life right or wrong. On the other hand, Mill seems to endorse achieving the highest pleasures only, specifically those of high intellectual caliber, as he believes that human pleasures would be very similar to those of animals if Bentham’s theory was correct. Also, Mill believes that society’s moral standards would decline if lower quality pleasures were pursued.
Benjamin Franklin was very prosperous and successful in spite of his bumpy road in the beginning of his life. His view of being successful was to arrive at moral perfection, where he gathered thirteen virtues he believed where necessary for him to become a better person. Arriving at Moral Perfection is a way to realize that you are in need of making some virtues stronger in your life to become a better human being. To do this, you need to reevaluate your attitudes and actions and analyze what virtues you need to reinforce in yourself. The purpose of this assignment is to strengthen your virtues, become a better person, and/or see how Franklin’s method works and if it is effective.
In 1963 British Philosopher John Stuart Mill’s work on the principle of utility; defends the utilitarian standard of the best outcome for everyone “good of all”. Mill’s holds that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (Mill, 1863, p. 1). Therefore, in order to promote happiness, people actions should have positive impact on those around them. My argument is that this is a universal moral truth. As Sommers points out utilitarianism is not an individuals own greatest happiness within their culture or society but the best outcome for everyone.
Aristotle claims that most people would agree that happiness is the end and that it must meet all the requirements. We know that we desire honor, money, pleasure and understanding only because we think that this will make us happy. So it seems that all good means are done for the sake of obtaining happiness. Aristotle says that happiness makes a person self-sufficient. He is not saying to live an isolated life but to be self-sufficient within a community.
Utilitarianism (Utility meaning usefulness) is a theory proposed by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill that means that all actions should be directed towards achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. It is a teleological argument as it is looks at the consequences of an action determining the rightness or wrongness of an action rather than the action itself. Jeremy Bentham (1748) believes in act utilitarianism, this is a theory that states that the act that produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people is the right one too choose therefore meaning it is quantitative as it is based on the quantity of happiness rather than quality. Benthams theory is based on 3 main things: 1. His view on what drove human beings and what goodness and badness was all about (he believes we are drive by pleasure opposed to pain – therefore he was a Hedonist), 2.
The general idea and the foundation about utilitarianism are all about doing something to maximize the happiness and minimize the misery and pain. According to this theory, an act is moral as they tend to increase the happiness or pleasure and reduce misery or pain. This idea, is developed from the father of utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham’s axiom “it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong” (Bentham J., 1776). Utilitarianism uses the aggregation of harms and benefits to determine the right course of
The difference between an uncritical egoistic hedonist and Epicurus is what outcome is being sought after. Uncritical hedonists base their selections on whatever will give them the most pleasure at that moment. Epicurus, and other rational/critical egoistic hedonists base their choices on what will lead to the most pleasure (or least amount of pain) in the future. According to his philosophy, the only way to attain long-term pleasure is to practice the virtues of simplicity and prudence in every aspect of life. Epicurus believed one must understand the desires that motivate him to attain peace of mind.
The more challenge, the greater the sense of achievement. When others have achieved the same thing, status is reduced and greater goals are sought. Hedonism Hedonists simply enjoy themselves. They seek pleasure above all things and may, according to the view of others, sink into debauchery. Stimulation The need for stimulation is close to hedonism, though the goal is slightly different.