Verified Document

Utilitarianism Is One A Normative Ethical Philosophy, Essay

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...

Spencer sought to reconcile the relationship between utility and freedom (Weinstein, 2013). An example in business could be paying employees a living wage. In a labor market with full freedom, only the forces of supply and demand, and relative bargaining power, would affect wage levels. The result of this, however, because of differential bargaining power, is usually negative for a great many people. The benefits that accrue to some -- shareholders -- are largely outweighed by the fact that low wages leave people unable to escape poverty. Yet if companies are required to pay workers more, this infringes on the freedom of companies to bargain the price of labor in a free and competitive market.
Utilitarian ethics usually involves such trade-offs. Not every decision reflects a zero-sum game, but there is always an element of distribution of resources inherent in decision-making, and this creates at least partial trade-offs in many cases. Following a utilitarian view strictly may place someone in conflict between as to whose freedom is infringed upon in order to deliver the greatest good to the greatest number. Prisons illustrate this quite well -- someone's freedom has to be taken away entirely so that the rest of the public can be free from crime.

Response

Utilitarians are aware of this conflict within their philosophy, and indeed have engaged in debate about the subject. In general, minor conflicts are not regarded as needing serious, methodical consideration. Some bigger conflicts, however, do require a strict, rational approach. Carbon taxes are a good example of this. There are significant freedoms in our society, including the freedom to engage, en masse, in self-destructive behaviors. The problem is that a few can engage in self-destructive behaviors that ruin everything for the many. Humanity first encountered this issue at the dawn of the nuclear age, when the entire world could have seen nuclear holocaust. Today, climate change is a similar issue.…

Sources used in this document:
References

Driver, J. (2014). The history of utilitarianism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved March 23, 2015 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/

Weinstein, D. (2012). Herbert Spencer. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved March 23, 2015 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spencer/#SpeLibUti
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Theoretical Approaches to Ethics. Normative Ethical Theory
Words: 1130 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

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
Words: 2729 Length: 7 Document Type: Essay

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 in International Marketing
Words: 5082 Length: 15 Document Type: Essay

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

Utilitarianism the Philosophy of Utilitarianism
Words: 1787 Length: 5 Document Type: Thesis

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
Words: 1131 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

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

Normative Ethics: Should Obama Seek
Words: 1780 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

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

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now