Utilitarianism Essay

Essay by jusme_84University, Bachelor'sB-, October 2014

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Utilitarianism Essay 1

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Utilitarian Essay

Analyzing Utilitarianism

10/5/14

Analyzing Utilitarianism

Life is full of choices and many of those choices come with a price. It is up to us as individuals to weigh out the cost and results of the choices we make. Ethical decisions are made constantly and it is up to the individual person to make the right one, the one that benefits the greater amount of people. It can be difficult when making important decisions because sometimes the results do not benefit the individual making the decision. It can be difficult to put selfish needs and wants before making the correct choices in order to benefit others instead. Therefore, using the utilitarian theory will help individuals keep what is most important in mind when acting on an ethical situation.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism can be explained in different ways, some may think of it as general morals that people follow in order to bring happiness to the greatest number.

The key point to utilitarianism is the moral theory in which the acts conducted by society or an individual are morally correct when they're ultimate results lead to or create happiness (Wilkens, 2011). The utilitarian theory also focuses on the quality of outcomes and not just the quantity of individuals that the outcomes affect. As a community we are meant to consider all who our decisions affect.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative

Quantitative utilitarianism is when a decision is based on benefiting the greater amount of people. In contrast qualitative utilitarianism has a better effect if the person can measure the results of their decision and it resulting in the greatest happiness. For example if there were to be two drowning individuals and one of them was the victim of violence and the other was the...