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Utilitarianism and Critics
Discussing utilitarianism
About utilitarianism
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The utilitarianism theory holds that an action is moral if it produces the greatest amount of good for the largest amount of people that are affected by the consequences of the action DeGeorge 44). Jeremy Bentham believed that one should measure the intensity, duration, certainty, remoteness, or purity and their opposites when evaluating for each person that is affected (DeGeorge 46). For example, a consequence that gives a more desirable quality like pleasure would be favored, just like if one would receive a good immediately rather than at a later time, the sooner would be favored. To know whether the action produces the absolute greatest good, one must compare it with alternative actions as well. To determine whether an action is moral or not, one should calculate the action and its opposite. An action is moral if it produces more good than harm and its opposite produces more harm than good. Utilitarianism should also be interpreted as requiring one to choose the best action among good actions. For example, if two actions produce the same amount of good, then they are both moral and either may be done (DeGeorge 47). There are two versions of utilitarianism, act and rule utilitarianism. Although they oppose each other, they are consistent with the utilitarian principle that was just explained. Act utilitarianism holds that what is believed to be morally right or wrong is based on consequence. When deciding which action results in the most good, it is dependent on whomever or whatever will benefit the most from it. Then, rule utilitarianism is dependent on moral rules. It is a more definite theory because an action can be decided as morally right or wrong dependent on the consequence of the moral rule. Those that follow this ve... ... middle of paper ... ...products on animals. The conflict is that even though the public is strongly against testing on animals, manufacturers are required by trade standards and consumer protection laws to show that their merchandise is not toxic and dangerous to public health, especially when it is in large quantities for shipping (“Testing Cosmetics on Animals” pars. 3). A utilitarian approach to solve this dilemma is to use in vitro screens. Manufacturers can still test for irritation to the skin or eye, dermal and airway sensitivity, endocrine disruption, and others to determine risk. The use of this mechanism would make the public happy because they are not using animals and the trade standards and consumer protection laws would still be met. Thus, in vitro screens are the utilitarian answer to providing the most happiness to the most people ("Testing Cosmetics on Animals” pars. 7).
“If you want to test cosmetics, why do it on some poor animal that hasn't done anything? They should use prisoners who have been convicted of murder or rape instead. So, rather than seeing if perfume irritates a bunny rabbit's eyes, they should throw it in Charles Manson's eyes and ask him if it hurts.” (DeGeneres, DG). Think about those animals imprisoned in cold cages, having nothing to do but wait, waiting in fear, knowing that when the time comes their cages will be opened, but not to set them free. Unable to react, unable to defend themselves, they rot in pain and mourn with isolation. And yet all we, humans, do is sit back and watch them suffer. Animal testing is the abuse of animals to develop new products. Although some people are against animal testing others agree that animals are needed in researches to find upgraded and new cures for developing diseases, to find advanced aesthetic products, and to find refine household products leading to a more satisfying quality.
In general, the term utilitarianism can be defined as the ethical or right action is the one that results in the greatest good for the greatest number. Therefore, some people suggest that rightness or wrongness is determine by numbers that are total the positives and the negatives outcome of an action or the one that produces the highest score of positives or negatives that is the most ethical, or right, thing to do (Neher, W. W. Sandin, P.J., 2007, p. 61).
Utilitarianism, hoping to promote, “the greatest good for the greatest number of people”, can have multiple associations. Act utilitarianism, often linked to philosopher Jeremy Bentham, relies on the nature of rationality and common sense. Bentham reasoned that in order to be considered rational, one must start with the values they actually have. He believed that this was integral in determining what was important to you, because in order to prove that s...
The utilitarian faces many problems because he loses any ability to live a personal life. By this is meant that in making decisions the utilitarian must consider the steps which lead to the highest level of goodness in society. The utilitarian reaches for the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Two main aspects dominate the light of utilitarian beliefs. The consequentialist principle explains that in determining the rightness or wrongness of an act one must examine the results that will follow. The utility principle is that you can only deem something to be good if it in itself will bring upon a specific desired state, such as happiness or fulfillment. There are two types of utilitarians: Act utilitarians and Rule utilitarians. An act utilitarian believes that a person must think things through before making a decision. The only exception to this idea applies with rules of thumb; decisions that need to be made spontaneously. The right act is the one that results in the most utility. Rule utilitarians believe that an act is only deemed appropriate if it fits in line with the outline of valid rules within a system of rules that target the most favorable outcome.
Animal testing has long played a part in the science of testing, and it still plays a very important role in the medical world. Testing on animals in order to create a cure for AIDS is one thing, but testing on animals for human vanity is another. Animal testing is used to test the safety of a product. It has kept some very unsafe substances out of the cosmetic world. However, in this day in age, animal testing is not the only way to test the safety of a product. Animal testing in cosmetics has decreased over the years. However, it is still used by many companies in America. Animal testing is not only cruel, but it is also unnecessary in today’s advanced scientific world.
Sadly according to the Humane Society International (HSI) article About Animal Testing “in the United states alone around 26 million animals are tested each year for medical and commercial research” (HSI) even though animal testing is not required to ensure that the cosmetic being sold are safe. From those 26 million animals being tested most are not protected by the federal Animal Welfare Act. The animal welfare act does not include birds, rats and mice bred for research, and it doesn’t include cold-blooded animals. Animals testing should be banned because the animals tested suffer immensely, also animal tested is unethical, and because there are many alternatives.
The aim of utilitarianism in general is optimal happiness, which is the only intrinsic good according to Mill. More specifically, act and rule utilitarianism differ in the manner in which they asses what will yield the greatest amount of happiness. Often, one of the objections to utilitarianism is that it is overly demanding. However, this objection that the utilitarian view is too demanding is fitting for both forms of utilitarianism, according to the Fundamentals of Ethics. In the following, I will address why utilitarianism is habitually seen as overly demanding, and I will provide a defense of utilitarianism contrary to these objections.
Throughout history, beginning as early as 500 BC, animals have been used to test products that will later be utilized by humans (“Animal Testing” 4), what isn’t publicly discussed is the way it will leave the animals after the process is done. Many innocent rabbits, monkeys, mice, and even popular pets such as dogs are harmed during the testing application of cosmetics, medicine, perfumes, and many other consumer products (Donaldson 2). Nevertheless, there are many people whom support the scandal because "it is a legal requirement to carry out animal testing to ensure they are safe and effective” for human benefit (Drayson). The overall question here is should it even be an authorized form of experimentation in the United States, or anywhere else? The fact of the matter is that there are alternatives to remove animals out of the equation for good (“Alternatives” 1). They are cheaper, and less invasive than the maltreatment of the 26 million innocent animals that are subjected to the heartlessness of testing each year (“Animal Testing” 4). All in all, due to the harsh effects of animal testing, it should be treated as animal cruelty in today’s society.
When you reach for a cosmetic product or even medication you do so in confidence that these products have been tested and are safe for you to use. You use these products knowing that they have been tested repeatedly, but do you know how they have been tested? It turns out that many of the products that you use every day such as cosmetics and even medication have been tested thoroughly on animals (Abbot). These test that are being ran are supposed to be for our safety but in many cases “the results of testing on animals are different from the results of testing on humans because we have different physiologies and metabolisms” (Callanan 20). These test on animals are not only unnecessary and sometimes give false results but they cause harm to
Products tested on animals can be potentially unreliable due to the differences of structure between humans and animals. Consequently, chemicals tested on a rabbit or other species may have different effects when applied to a human. Since factors such as the stress animals suffer in the lab affect their blood pressure and muscular activity (Humane Society International), results become erratic. The variation of results on animals can cause the release of dangerous chemicals to the market. Furthermore, without concrete and constant factors, cosmetic companies will be constantly haunted by the consumer’s negative remarks on the efficiency of the product. Therefore, on the long run animal testing only creates research limitations, but also hurts the companies’ reputation and the consumer’s health. More importantly, the lives sacrificed to create such products would be for nothing else than to depict humans as merciless
Simple household items such as lotions, shampoos and cosmetics aren’t very expensive and are within reach of the public, yet the public is not knowledgeable of the fact that the products that they use everyday are put through a series of tests which involve the use of harmless animals. Several large commercial companies do not make products for animals; they decide that using these harmless creatures for the testing of their products, could be harmful to animals, still go forward with these types of procedures on an everyday basis. Although these animals are unable to defend themselves or show signs of any form of consent for the near death procedures, these companies find this as a cheap solution for testing their products before placing them on the market. There are many other alternatives to testing animals, such as embryonic stem cell research. Animal experimentation is wrong and it can be avoided, but companies which are greedy for money choose not to.
As a philosophical approach, utilitarianism generally focuses on the principle of “greatest happiness”. According to the greatest happiness principle, actions that promote overall happiness and pleasure are considered as right practices. Moreover, to Mill, actions which enhance happiness are morally right, on the other hand, actions that produce undesirable and unhappy outcomes are considered as morally wrong. From this point of view we can deduct that utilitarianism assign us moral duties and variety of ways for maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain to ensure “greatest happiness principle”. Despite all of moral duties and obligations, utilitarian perspective have many specific challenges that pose several serious threats which constitute variety of arguments in this essay to utilitarianism and specifically Mill answers these challenges in his work. These arguments can be determinated and analyzed as three crucial points that seriously challenges utilitarianism. The first issue can be entitled like that utilitarian idea sets too demanding conditions as to act by motive which always serves maximizing overall happiness. It creates single criterion about “being motived to maximize overall happiness” but moral rightness which are unattainable to pursue in case of the maximizing benefit principle challenges utilitarianism. Secondly, the idea which may related with the first argument but differs from the first idea about single criterion issue, utilitarianism demands people to consider and measuring everything which taking place around before people practice their actions. It leads criticism to utilitarianism since the approach sees human-beings as calculators to attain greatest happiness principle without considering cultural differ...
Bentham’s Utilitarianism sees the highest good as the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Jeremy Bentham believed that by adding up the amounts of pleasure and pain for each possible act we should be able to choose the good thing to do. Happiness equaled pleasure minus pain. Bentham provided a way of measuring pleasure and pain, he called it the hedonic calculus. There are seven criteria to this calculus. First being the intensity being measured – how strong is the pleasure. The second criteria, duration – how long will the pleasure last. The third, certainty – how likely or unlikely is the pleasure. Fourth, Propinquity - How far off in the future is the pleasure or pain. The fifth, fecundity – what is the likely hood that a succession of pleasure will follow. The sixth criteria, purity – What is the probability that the pain will lead to other pain. Lastly, is the extent – how many people will be affected. This calculus gave Bentham a method of testing whether an action is morally right in that if it was good it would result in the most pleasurable outcome, having weighed up all the elements. These factors weigh up the potential amount of pleasure or pain which might arise from moral actions to decide which would be the best option to take. Ideally this formula should determine which act has the best tendency and is therefore
It is now required by law that cosmetics are tested for safety before being made available to the public. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in charge of overseeing drug and cosmetic testing today. Animal testing was the most widespread form of cosmetic testing considered proven, but the technology that is now available may replace the need for animal test...
Every year millions of animals are used in medical experiments for the benefits of human health. Animals are used from anything from vaccines and other pharmaceuticals to cosmetics. Luckily, in the latter years scientist have found other ways to test drugs and make-up rather than on animals in some cases. Medical testing, especially in the early stages, can be excruciatingly painful for animals and can even cause death. The same can be said about the cosmetics testing. There are many rallies against animal testing as to where the line is drawn when it comes to animal rights.