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Utilitarianism and morality

So utilitarianism suggests that it is "morally right" to create as much happiness for the greatest number of people while it is "morally wrong" to create unhappiness within society. .
             Jeremy Bentham believed that we should calculate the amount of happiness that would be created from an action before carrying it out and weigh up how much happiness it would create. If it would cause a great deal of unhappiness, it should not be carried out. Bentham believed that we should think in this way every time we are going to make a decision which could effect other people's happiness. John Stuart Mill took it one step further and suggested that it wasn't only the quantity of the happiness and pleasure that mattered but also the quality. For example eating is seen as a lower form of pleasure than something intellectual and rational such as reading or a hobby you enjoy. This happiness would be seen as more valuable. .
             For Utilitarians the morally right thing to do is increase the amount of happiness in the world in any way possible. The morally wrong thing to do is to create unhappiness within the world. For Utilitarians this was not only an idea or merely just a theory, Mill and Bentham wanted this idea to be put into practice and believed that this moral code would change society for the better. While this may seem like a rather straightforward and simple way of looking at life, utilitarianism is largely criticised and the theory has flaws and gaps. Difficulties did arise from the utilitarian definition of what is morally right and what is morally wrong. The utilitarian argument is simple; we should judge actions right or wrong depending on whether they cause happiness or unhappiness. But is it as simple when it comes to putting the utilitarian approach into action?.
             One difficulty that does arise from the Utilitarian definition of morality is that we can never know for certain all the consequences of the things we do.


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1. Utilitarianism: Principle Based and Virtue Ethics

... that provide a basis, explanation and possible guide for our ethical reasoning. Utilitarianism and Kant's philosophy of principle, duty-based ethics and virtue ethics represent three different interpretations and theories however virtue ethics offers more as a basis for living a good ethical life. Utilitarianism, a conception of morality developed primarily by Jeremy Bentham, James Mill and his son John Stuart Mill attempts ... to bring back personal inclinations and interests into moral ... equivalent to the pleasure some feel when causing harm to others and what would be considered mo...

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2. Moral Limits and Individual Conduct

... never desire anything but happiness. This makes his theory morally binding and if society were to act in this way people would have to internalize utilitarianism standards. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philosopher who wrote several critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science. His work on morality and its limitations is described in his essay "On the Genealogy of ... Morals, " where he questions and critiques the value of our moral judgments based on a ... to get ahead of their rival. Similar to Immanual Kant, John Stuart Mill believ...

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3. Utilitarianism

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4. The Morality In Juvenile Justice

... is far from certain how to best handle youthful offenders who commit violent and/or serious crimes. The moral perspective provided by both Utilitarian and Kantian morality is not particularly helpful in determining this issue because ethical claims can be logically argued both for and against trying juveniles as adults. Utilitarianism is a moral theory that was developed by British philosophers Jeremy Bentham ... and John Stuart Mill. These philosophers proposed judging the morality of an issue according to whether or not it increased the general happiness. Mill wrote that ... actions a...

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5. Utilitarianism - Questions Regarding Human Nature

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6. Utilitarianism

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7. Ethics- Utilitarianism in relation to the war on Iraq.

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8. Ethical Theories of Plato, Kant, and Mill

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9. The Philosophy of Utilitarianism

... by them who are affected by their actions. It is then broken down into two units, act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Evaluating actions and selecting one over the over based on which one produces the greatest amount of happiness is act utilitarianism. So on, rule utilitarianism is determining the morality of an action based on the value of its consequence if the rule was to be followed ... . Stephan Darwall analyzes Mill's theory of both and gives his objections and contradictions that shines a different light on the outcome of the theories. "A criterion ... of what makes an ac...

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