Utilitarianism is one a normative ethical philosophy, and it stands as one of the most important of its type. At its heart, utilitarianism is a consequentialist philosophy, in that the ethics of an action are dependent on the consequences of an action. Before the advent of utilitarianism, consequentialist philosophy emphasizes the self, in particular hedonism, but utilitarianism expanded the scope of consequences to include those to all society. Today, such scope has arguably been expanded further so that outcomes to the environment and other non-human entities is also taken into consideration (Driver, 2014). The most common distillation of utilitarian philosophy is in the phrase "the greatest good for the greatest number."
Core Concept
If the morality of a decision rests on its consequences, that places significant onus on the decision-maker to consider the full range of those consequences. In early consequentialism, the consequences considered were largely to oneself, making it relatively easy to predict outcomes, but eschewing the idea that one has a duty of care to those with whom he or she shares the planet. Other philosophical schools of thought focus on what is right or moral, relying on the idea that there are universal laws which exist, and thus should not be violated. Decision-making is relatively easy in those schools when one knows those universal laws.
Utility and Freedom
One of the formative thinkers of utilitarianism was Herbert Spencer, and he was particularly concerned with the relationship between freedom and utility. The utilitarian viewpoint demands that the decision-maker consider the totality of consequences from his or her actions. A mental calculus must be conducted, therefore, weighing the likelihood of different outcomes, along with the ethical merits of those outcomes. For example, the executives at Enron felt that they could conduct their fraud and not get caught. It was entirely foreseeable that if they got caught, they would face legal action and the company would be destroyed. The consequences would be catastrophic. In their ethical calculus, they must have felt that a) the likelihood of getting caught was low, because the consequences were always going to be severe, including to themselves. Most people, when faced with the same opportunity, would have realized that...
In this case, individuals are entitled to produce goods and services to meet their human need instead of private profit (Wolff, 2012). Prevention for Power and Privileges under Social Contract: While social contract provides power and privileges to all members of the society, ordinary people are usually prevented from executing the power and privilege that they are entitled to through various ways. Some of these ways include the state's legitimacy claims
Also, a very liberal strategy like the one that Mexico took after the NAFTA agreements is dangerous to a newly independent state. Extreme liberalization worked well for Mexico because a large and confident Mexico felt like it could benefit greatly from increased trade and labor transfer with the United States, without being pushed around in the agreement, and Canada helped to maintain neutrality. The Joyan Islands, on the other
Republicans construed Obama as suggesting government bailouts for new industries, or at the slightest a more lively federal government function in generating or supporting jobs -- concepts abominations to a lot of conservatives. The Obama campaign countered the idea as political spin that does not replicate the president's feeling or meaning, pointing to full circumstances of the quotation as confirmation (Koch, 2011). Discuss the process of how a Bill becomes a
(Vancketta, 1999) The 'Changes' clause enables the Government "to make unilateral changes to the contract during performance, so long as those changes fall within the contract's scope." The Standard 'Changes' clause utilized in fixes price supply contracts allows the CO to make changes in writing to: 1) the drawings, designs, or specifications when the item is being specifically manufactured for the government; 2) the method of shipment or packing; or 3) the place
Lobbyists may accost legislators to directly influence their vote on a certain issue. Lobbyists fulfill the important role of providing information for legislators' decision-making, educating and forming public opinion, and even contributing to and testifying to certain legislations. Lobbyists are mostly involved in the electoral process through the use of political action committees (Magleby et al.). Creating the Constitution The original framers designed the Constitution for ordinary people who were not
Higher taxes for example relates to less income for basic needs. In terms of political ideology, it is obvious that the particular ideology of the government would affect the rest of the country. In terms of the United States, for example, the Republican government has a certain set of ideals in terms of issues such as abortion, religious ideology, and so on, that they tend to impose upon the population. In
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