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Ethics and Utilitarianism

 

            Ethics rule everything that we hold as being necessary for a functioning society, it plays an integral role in personal lives and is supposed to be a steadfast part of what makes our system of government one of the best in the world. However the problems arises when we have to take into consideration that what one group finds as moral another might find as hindering to their rights and vice versa. Who is to have the final say on what becomes the ethical guidelines from which to create and execute our laws? We cannot possibly accommodate every group's beliefs into a monumental decisions if we did, there is a large possibility that we would still have slavery and segregated schools, we would still see the female population unable to vote and homosexual individuals would still "suffer from a mental affliction ". When dealing within the realm of Utilitarianism, "the purpose of morality is to guide people's actions in such a way as to produce a better world. " (Bednar) .
             The Utilitarian method believes that society as a whole would reach perfection, if everyone acted morally and in a way that would produce the most amount of good in the world. That however goes against human nature, human beings are natural immoral, they learn morality as they grow and the morality is subject to a number of factors (i.e. Religion, culture, region etc.) Our ethical views are a makeup of our individual experiences, the same way we shape the way we our political and religious views. These experiences are the reasons behind our economic practices. Even in modern day society, people are responsible for their actions if they are moral or ethical. "Utilitarianism is a morally demanding position for two reasons: It always asks us to do the most, to maximize utility, not to do the minimum. It asks us to set aside personal interest. " (Bednar).
             Bentham's views on ethics are that man should carry out activities yielding the maximum pleasure, without making qualitative distinctions, because "happiness is the greatest good.


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