Like Aristotle's virtue-based ethics, utilitarians believe that happiness is the ultimate goal of human life and therefore of any ethical system that can be devised. Also like Aristotle, they perceived that to be virtuous required society; being virtuous when completely alone is impossible, as there is no one to be un-virtuous towards. This also means that individual happiness cannot be the only consideration in utilitarian ethics, but that the

Utilitarianism: Weighing the Balance The common good is often spoken of as a principle for social justice: that which benefits the whole should be promoted. Or, that which is universally good should have the highest support. It could be said that this is a utilitarian concept -- yet in modern terms of justice where egalitarianism can appear to be at odds with the "common good," the role of minority voices and

According to utilitarian ethical theory, a lie would be very moral indeed if it increased someone's happiness without creating detriment to anyone -- telling a child that their unintelligible crayon markings is a great picture of a house, for instance, boosts their self-esteem and helps them to feel loved, and no one in the art world suffers for this white lie. Utilitarianism also provides a solution to conflicting duties that

Moral Philosophy Can desires and feelings be in accordance with or contrary to reason? Are they under the control of, or guided by, reason? Compare, contrast, and critically evaluate the answers of Aristotle and Hume to these questions and their arguments in support of those answers. David Hume is one of the most significant philosophers of the 18th Century. Hume is skeptical about moral truths, and he ascertains that ethics comes from

" This could not even be termed a desire to do good, as then it would be fulfilling someone's desire to do a good deed, and would therefore have a selfish motive. Kant is one of the very few that attempted to divorce happiness from morality; even though lying to the mass murderer would save many lives, Kant believed that lying was wrong, and therefore one could not lie even

and, fundamentally, More's choice was the right one, not because he ascribed to any of these moral beliefs, but because he attempted to remain true to himself. Although utilitarianism may provide us with the tools to actually make choices in most situations, these choices would not satisfy the moral demands of most individuals. Meanwhile, attempting to live life by a finite set of rules can often leave individuals in