Act Utilitarian Case Study

Act Utilitarian

The act utilitarian believes that an action is right if the results are good or wrong if the results are bad. A person who believes in the rule of utilitarianism will judge the doctors based on the results. An example is if the experiment is a success and the cure of cancer is found then, it is a correct. On the other hand, if the experiment fails, the action would be judged as wrong, since no good has come out of it .This will not only paralyze the patient’s health, but the hospital will also have to face punishment due to their unethical behavior (Shafer-Landau, 2014). The fact that the hospital acted in an irrational way it has to be judged as an act of that lacks human decency.

Act utilitarianism is also based on utility.

One is which rule will he be following or breaking if he carried on with certain action. In this case, the doctors were breaking medical rules concerning patients. The other question would be if the rule was followed would it result in happiness. The doctors following the rule of injecting the patients without their consent would not be a pleasing thing. This will help determine that it is a wrongful action. In another case maybe, if the rule was followed it would lead to maximum happiness since perhaps the cure for cancer would be found. It is then, worth noting that for an action to be perceived as a rightful one it has to follow both rules, not just one. A person following the utilitarian rule would thus, be against the hospital’s action (Shafer-Landau

This principal is based on a maxim. A maxim refers to the reason one does something and the act that has been done. Maxim states that an action is either right or wrong based on the reason for doing it. In relation to the maxim, the doctor’s actions are considered right. The doctors argue that they did so in an attempt to find a cure for cancer and because the patients would not agree to the experiment. In addition, the principle of universalizability disagrees with maxim and sees this as a wrong act (Shafer-Landau 2014). This principle argues that before attempting an action one should ask what would the world be if everyone world acted in a similar manner. The answer would definitely be that the world would be a nightmare and this answer would perceive it as the wrong action. Another factor is morality and rationality principle would also judge these actions as rightful action. The doctors have appeared to be among the moralist, people who know what is right or wrong but do not care about rightfulness at all. The hospital can be said to have hypothetical imperatives because they have done what suits them best. Injecting the patients with cancer cells so as to experiment their ideas. They also might care or not maybe have a little empathy but still, go on to do so thus they are categorically imperative people. This terms used to describe doctors can be used to illustrate