Watchmen Essay

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Morality and ethnics are two terms that closely resemble one another. Morality and ethnic both have to do with the concept of what is considered as right and wrong. However, there is a distinct different between the two. Morality is the principle that concerns itself with what is right and what is wrong based on an individual’s personal opinion and thoughts. Ethnics are a set of rules that are considered as “right” and are set out by an external source. Two types of philosophical ethnics are deontology and utilitarianism. Utilitarianism focuses on maximizing happiness while deontology focuses on duty and rationality. If one was given the option to save the life of one person or save the life of five, how would one respond? Those who believe in utilitarianism have a different mindset as to how to solve this crisis. However, like any theory that exists, there are always strength and weaknesses to those theories.
Utilitarianism is an ethnic theory founded by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. According to Jeremy Bentham, an act is considered as morally right if it provides the greatest amount of pleasure. Bentham’s view on utilitarianism is considered to be hedonistic because he does not take into account the consequences when considering that pleasure is the most important aspect. Bentham believes in maximizing pleasure while minimizing pain. He also believed that pleasure is the only intrinsic good while pain and suffering is the only intrinsic bad. Bentham also believed that pleasure and pain are aspects that could be measured by something called the “hedonic calculus”. Bentham view on utility is considered as individualistic because it concerns more on oneself than on others. However, John Stuart Mill disagreed with Bentham ...

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...rything into consideration. A utilitarian mindset is concentrated on the greatest number of good for the greatest number of people. However, from this, other aspects and facts are not taken into consideration. It does not matter who the person is or what their background and history is like. Utilitarianism seems to be the most accepted in today’s society. Most people want the maximum number of good and happiness for the greatest amount of people. An example would be our health care system. It is free so that everybody has the opportunity to healthcare, ensuring maximum amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. However, it is difficult to solely believe and follow utilitarianism or deontology alone. There will always be aspects of both theories that one may or may not believe in. There will always be factors that changes someone’s opinion and actions.

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