Timmerman and Utilitarianism Utilitarianism can be defined in many different ways, as it is something that has had its definition altered over time. If we take the primal perspective of Utilitarianism, which was presented by Jeremy Bentham, the focus is on providing the most hedons (happiness) for the most people, and that it is ethically bad to promote dolor (pain and suffering) in the area where the most people will be affected. Bentham also expressed that the end justifies the means and that the only things that truly matter are the results. There are a lot of good ideas that came from this thought process: ranging from freedom of expression to things like women's rights. On a surface level, Bentham's ideas can appear to be of pure good intent with an emphasis placed on helping the greater good, but with a focus on "most people", the people who are not in this category can end up suffering. …show more content…
In Timmerman's book, he focuses on the clothing industry and the way that it functions in order for the people of the United States to be able to have different articles of clothing. Timmerman travels to the countries where his clothing is made and the results that he finds are understandable, but also quite horrifying.. The work conditions in the foreign countries are filled with low paying jobs, excessive hours of work, young workers and very poor work environments. Despite all of these morally unethical issues, it can be justified through Bentham's use of Utilitarianism, because it is providing happiness for the most people. If we are to compare the amount of happy consumers to the amount of unhappy workers we would have a lot more happy people than
Jeremy Bentham, one of the founders of Utilitarianism, believed his philosophy could provide for the “greatest happiness of the greatest number of people”. However benign it may sound, at the heart of Utilitarianism is a cold, teleological process which reduces happiness to a mere commodity. It is even worse that Saul Alinsky would extend this philosophy to a point where the truth becomes relative, justice becomes a tool of those powerful enough to wield it, and any means are justified to reach one’s desired ends.
Utilitarianism provides a method for calculating the moral worth of specific actions in terms of their consequences. Utilitarianism teaches that happiness comprises the fundamental purpose and pursuit of human life. Therefore, the value and worth of any given action should be evaluated in terms of its ability to produce happiness. The utilitarian defines happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain, and teaches that in all cases individuals should act in such a way as to achieve the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people. Utilitarianism...
Utilitarianism is the view of considering everyone’s benefit as equally important versus only considering my own. For any action, the morally correct thing to do is cause the greatest amount of happiness or pleasure or benefit for the greatest number possible; while at the same time causing the least amount of pain or unhappiness for the smallest number possible.
Both Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, had thoughts of the Principle of Utility and what it should be like. Bentham believes that the Principle of Utility depends on pain and pleasure and Mill believes that the Principle of Utility depends on higher pleasures and lower pleasures. Pain meaning evil and pleasure meaning good or greater benefits and higher pleasures meaning that action was good which would lead to a higher level of happiness and lower pleasures meaning bad which would lead to a decreasing level of happiness. Therefore, a normative ethical theory that has come through from this and it is Utilitarianism. The definition of Utilitarianism is a course of action that maximizes the total
Imagine being faced with an important decision that affects a group of people. In order to make this decision you would have to decide which choice is wrong and which choice is right. There are two notable theories that believe a single moral principle provides the best way to achieve the best outcome to a moral judgement. These theories are utilitarianism and Kantian ethics.
Utilitarianism is a widely accepted principle that is seen all over the world today. An example of Utilitarianism from today’s perspective would be the pharmaceutical industry. When a company wants to start distributing a new drug, the government has to approve of it before it is available to the public. Have you even seen or heard of a pharmaceutical drug that has absolutely no side effects whatsoever? No, even in commercials, the list of side effects is almost half the airtime of the commercial itself regardless of how fast the narrator of the commercial is.
Utilitarianism is a difficult topic to fathom, for it requires a large amount of questions and self-evaluation. In order to understand utilitarianism, think of bad versus bad. A principle stating that when one is faced with two difficult decisions, which choice would be less harmful for all of those involved? John Stuart Mill and Bernard Williams describe utilitarianism as pain versus pleasure or the lesser of two evils approach, and how that approach ties into ones ultimate choice. Utilitarianism is not about the pursuit of happiness, rather, it is really about picking which evil is the best evil.
Jeremy Bentham is widely regarded as the father of utilitarianism. He was born in 1748 into a family of lawyers and was himself, training to join the profession. During this process however, he became disillusioned by the state British law was in and set out to reform the system into a perfect one based on the ‘Greatest Happiness Principle,’ ‘the idea that pleasurable consequences are what qualify an action as being morally good’. Bentham observed that we are all governed by pain and pleasure; we all naturally aim to seek pleasure and avoid pain. He then decided that the best moral principle for governing our lives is one which uses this, the ‘Greatest Happiness Principle.’ This is that the amount of overall happiness or unhappiness that is caused by an action should determine whether an action is right or wrong. He stated,
Utilitarianism is a movement in ethics which began in the late eighteenth centaury and is primarily associated with the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham and was later adapted and fully developed by John Stuart Mill in the ninetieth century. . The theory states that we should try to achieve ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory of ethics. Teleological theories of ethics look at the consequences to decide whether an action is right or wrong. Utilitarianism is defined as a doctrine that the useful is the good and that the determining consideration of right conduct should be the usefulness of it consequences: specifically: a theory that the aim of action should be the largest possible
For the purposes of brevity I will refer mainly to Bentham's and Mill's definitions of utilitarianism. In ...
The ethical theory of utilitarianism is associated with the philosopher Jeremy Bentham. Utilitarianism essentially is the theory that good is what causes a person pleasure and evil is what causes a person pain. Bentham’s utilitarianism is sometimes titled Act Utilitarianism because it focuses on individual actions A “right” action, according to Betham, is one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Where a “wrong” action is one that would cause more pain than pleasure. Before a person commits an action, they should look at the consequences that it can have on the individual and others. Hedonic Calculus is a method in determining how much pleasure or pain an action will elicit. Hedonic Calculus consists of seven criteria including intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity and extent. Each criteria can be given a score between -10 (worst pain) to +10 (highest pleasure). The action becomes ethical and moral if there is an overall net happiness for everyone that is affected. An acti...
Utilitarianism, as being debated for hundreds of years, is both approved and criticized by people from different perspectives and different stances. The essence of this ethical theory, as John Stuart Mill put it: actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Obviously what needs to be elaborated here for this Greater Happiness Principle is the definition of happiness and unhappiness. Happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; and unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure. Another point that worths to point out here is Mill and utilitarians view pleasure as the only good that is desirable for all of our actions.
Morality as a whole tries to create a distinction between right and wrong, good and bad. Making decisions should arguably always be aimed towards good. Under the philosophical doctrine of Utilitarianism, philosophers like Bentham and Mill recognize that human kind should make their lives useful and good through bringing about happiness or pleasure. The idea of the “Greatest Happiness Principle was introduced by Bentham, who was a Utilitarian predecessor to Mill. According to Mill, human lives should abide by the “Greatest Happiness Principle.” This principle states that actions are good as they tend to promote happiness; and bad as they promote the reverse of happiness, therefore humans should make a conscious choice of action that will lead
Utilitarianism operates under the principle of providing the greatest good for the greatest number. The idea of cost-effectiveness is based upon utilitarianism as well. Philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill modified moral philosophy with relation to human happiness. In
When it comes to utilitarianism, the definition or what it actually is differs from one person to another depending on their situation. It all boils down to one question: “What will make the most people the most happy?” Even though it seems like an easy question to answer, the decisions you must face in answering it are not. Should you make yourself happy or should you make others happy? Is it okay to sacrifice the happiness of a couple of people if it makes everyone else happy? What happens to the few who get sacrificed for the happiness of the many others? Philosophically speaking, utilitarianism is the belief that a morally good action is one that helps the greatest number of people. John Stuart Mill starts off by stating very little progress has been made when it comes to setting standards to judge what is morally right or wrong. Mill’s thoughts and reasoning on what he believes utilitarianism counts for, especially in the specific categories he has mentioned, are correct in many eyes.