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...
Theoretical approaches to ethics. Normative ethical theory Normative ethics is the descriptor that is applied to the entire caliber of a certain perspective of ethics that has various sub-categories to it. As general definition, normative ethics is the term given to the moral investigation that queries how one should act in an ethical manner. To this end, a quantity of ethical systems exists that seek to answer that question. To differentiate normative
Ethical Theories The three basic ethical theories share a number of similarities, because they each attempt to describe and explicate the ethical decisions made by humans as well as the logic (or illogic) that is used to inform any particular behavior. Utilitarianism offers what is perhaps the most sound ethical theory due to the way it chooses for itself the goal of its efforts, but it is hampered by disagreement regarding
Ethical Dilemmas & Marketing Ethical Dilemmas Ethical dilemmas in international marketing Background of Marketing Ethics Ethical Issues in Marketing Modern Debate in Stakeholder Theory Ethical Theories Teleological Theories Virtue Ethics Ethics in Marketing Ethical dilemmas in international marketing Humanity has long struggled with the question of what constitutes ethical behavior. The answer to this question has not always been simple or easy especially in the midst of conflicting interests. Businesses desire and need to sell products to consumers but serious issues
Lastly, it runs counter to the view that morality is essentially related to the concept of justice. Many critics of this theory argue that, "morality is not based on consequences of actions. Instead, it is based on the fundamental concept of justice" (Lee). In the final analysis, the dilemma in utilitarianism is that it unable to deal with a wide range of moral issue and actins and, as such, tends
Utilitarianism: A Closer Look Utilitarianism is an old political theory. It has been put forth in one form or another by many political philosophers over the years as the basis for a good political system. Epicurus was one of the early proponents of utilitarianism, though he did not call it by that name. However, he did promote the idea that happiness or pleasure was a good indicator of moral decisions. Jeremy
Prosecuting a former President for illegal activity in his role as President would certainly increase partisan bickering; making it less likely that Obama could effectuate meaningful change in his administration. Doing that might actually cause people greater harm. For example, the economy is having a direct impact on Americans right now, diverting funds into an expensive investigation that might not even result in a realistic possibility of prosecution for
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