Ask yourself where you draw the line on whether something is right or wrong, ask someone else where they draw a line on whether something is right or wrong. This idea of where we stand on our moral values and how we announce them almost always relates similarly to others around us. Could this be because we are within a similar culture, or could it be because we share similar ideas? No matter what, it will always come down to the statement of each and every one of us having our own moral values, no matter how similar they may be. In this essay, I will be able to give an overall insight on the ideas given from three philosophical theories, Egoism, Utilitarianism, and Relativism. To give a brief explanation of each theory, Egoism encompasses …show more content…
Utilitarianism holds a view on the subject of morality of self-interest with the intentions of always doing well for all around. It would have to be a universally accepted action where it would do no harm to all involved. This theory holds a different view on happiness and where everyone’s happiness is equal to one another, there is no hierarchy of happiness among us all. The thought of utilitarianism is a great one, though in a sense that if it was possible we would all hold a similar level of happiness and when deciding on our actions we would consider the happiness of other as much as we held our own happiness. Although with this idea of utilitarianism we come to the problem of most humans being inconsiderate of others and how their intentions would have an effect on others lives. Nevertheless, this theory has been most talked about throughout centuries making it one of the most well known theories, this could well be for the main purpose of it holding a strong view towards the happiness of all around. Of course, the idea of Consequentialism in utilitarianism makes that an action has to be judged for its consequences on the happiness on larger groups in society. When putting these two together there is plenty to take into consideration when determining what is most acceptable and what will have the largest positive impact whereas we can also see a minor …show more content…
I would have to say that I agree most with relativism and how it is explained. I agree with the idea that there is no global idea of right and wrong, or the ideas of values tend to differ from one culture to the next. The reason as to why I chose this theory compared to egoism and utilitarianism is because of how each of their main points had been given. With egoism it revolves around being a completely selfish being in order to fulfill a well being and utilitarianism revolves around the idea of complete equality of happiness which is not a bad thought although it is far
Ethical egoism is a moral theory focused on improving a person’s well-being. There are many arguments for ethical egoism such as the Self-Reliance Argument and the Best Argument for Ethical Egoism, both presented by Shafer-Landau in The Fundamentals of Ethics. However, in this paper I will discuss how objections presented by Shafer-Landau and Dr. Thomas Carson are fatal to ethical egoism, while keeping in mind arguments for this moral theory. I will discuss objections such as ethical egoism permitting or sometimes requiring murder, theft, or rape, in order to promote oneself’s well-being, egoists subconscious belief of their lives being more important than others, and an argument presented in class that if egoists must do what is best for their
INTRODUCTION In this assignment, I will discuss the ethical issues in marketing to children from a utilitarianism perspective. Marketing to children can be defined as the “act of marketing or advertising products or services to children”. There have been controversies surrounding the issue of marketing to children with regard to whether it is ethical or unethical. Utilitarianism on the other hand is defined as the ethical theory which finds the basis of moral distinctions in the utility of actions (their fitness to produce happiness).
Utilitarianism is one of the best-known theory under the consequentialism, and its idea is the Greatest Happiness Principle(GHP). According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Utilitarian believe that the purpose of morality is to
Evaluating the morality within ourselves they evaluate morality on the principle of what is wrong or right. As equally
The morality of an action is determined by the outcome of that action. At an initial glance, Utilitarianism seems as if it would be a superior way to live a life full of good will, as it is focused on doing the most
As we know consequentialism is the focus of an action that does more intrinsically good than bad, one kind of consequentialist theory is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is an action that produces consequences that are more good over bad for everyone involved. In order to produce an action that is the best one a utilitarianist would consider both long and short term effects. Two sub categories of utilitarianism include act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. act utilitarianism bases an action on the overall well being produced by an individual.
The Evaluation of What Is Wrong with Slavery In the paper what is wrong with slavery, R.M. Hare argues that, according to utilitarianism, slavery is evil and should be abolished in every society. He discusses the definition of slavery, and after that shows imaginary cases to illustrate his ideas. However, does his argument make a cogent case? Is there any exceptions to his argument?
Every society has its own unique cultures in which people will have different ideas of moral codes. The diversity of these cultures cannot be said to be correct or incorrect. Every society has independent standards of ethic within their society and these standards are culture-bound. Cultural Relativism has a perception in which rightness or wrongness of an action depends entirely within the bounds of the culture. This theory opposes the belief in the objectivity of moral truth.
The divine command theory, utilitarianism, Kant’s duty defined morality, natural law theory, and Aristotle’s virtue ethics are the five types of ethical theories. The divine command theory states that what is morally right and wrong will be decided by God. Utilitarianism states that “Action “A” is morally right if and only if it produces the greatest amount of overall happiness. Kant’s duty defined morality states that what is important is acting for the sake of producing good consequences, no matter what the act is. Natural law theory states that people should focus on the good and avoid any evil.
Utilitarianism is a very controversial theory. Many people disagree with this idea because it disrupts our personal relationships, it is too demanding, it promotes that the consequences are the only thing that matters, and shows that pleasures are the only things that are important. Classical Utilitarianism is based on three points; that morality of actions are only bases on consequences, the consequences only matter if it creates more or less happiness, and everyone gets equal considerations when it comes to happiness. The classical Utilitarianism was made and defended by three philosophers from 19th century England; John Mill, Jeremy Bentham, and Henry Sidgwick. These people help this theory to be highly influential in the modern era.
Singer's theory of preference utilitarianism rests on the idea that everyone's preferences should be looked at equally. This means that all living and sentient beings have interests, can feel pain and pleasure. Preferences, in this case, does not mean happiness necessarily. Looking at happiness specifically, is another type of utilitarianism that will be discussed further in the later part of this essay. Singer includes people with severe disabilities, animals, intelligent aliens, and infants to the list of beings that need to be considered.
In Itself states that people should act in a certain way that you always treat humanity and always consider them as an end but never as mere means. This moral theory opposes to Utilitarianism, which supports the “greatest happiness principle”. According to “greatest happiness principle” people ought to act in such a way that produce the greatest amount of happiness for the
(Luco, Week 3 Notes, p.9) Cultural Relativism is simply a combination of the following three theses: 1. The only criterion of moral truth or falsehood is the moral code of a cultural group. 2. A moral claim is true, relative to a culture’s moral code, if and only if the claim is generally accepted within that cultural
Utilitarianism is a teleological ethical theory based on the idea that an action is moral if it causes the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. The theory is concerned with predicted consequences or outcomes of a situation rather than focusing on what is done to get to the outcome. There are many forms of utilitarianism, having been introduced by Jeremy Bentham (act utilitarianism), and later being updated by scholars such as J.S. Mill (rule utilitarianism) and Peter Singer (preference utilitarianism). When referring to issues of business ethics, utilitarianism can allow companies to decide what to do in a given situation based on a simple calculation. Many people would agree that this idea of promoting goodness
• Ethical Theories An ethical theory is a decision model .These theories depicts the viewpoints from which people seek guidance as they make decisions. Each theory highlights different points, different decision making style or a decision rule. Ethical theories are based on individual’s ethical ideology these theories allow a person to find an answer to an issue, to make a morally right decision or to justify a decision.