Principals of Morals and Legislation by Jeremy Bentham - Essay Example

Question No Utilitarianism This important concept of ethics was proposed by Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher-reformer, in his book ‘Principals of Morals and Legislation” which was later developed by John Stuart Mill, an English philosopher-economist, in his book ‘Utilitarianism’. According to Mill, “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” Mills named this theory as “Greatest Happiness Principle”. It means an action is morally right which will result in the happiness or absence of pain and wrong if it ends in unhappinessi. To make it simpler, it can be said that it is the belief that the value of a thing or an action is determined by its utilityii. His theory consists of three basic elements: Consequentialism, Impartiality and Hedonism. It means that the moral worth of an action is determined by the consequence and therefore, makes it a form of Consequentialism. Utilitarianism emphasis more on majority and it is concerned with the happiness of the greatest number of people in the society. This theory opposes suffering and promotes happiness. Most appealing factor is the simplicity. The end result of any action is considered and deemed moral or immoral as per how much happiness that particular action is providing in that particular circumstance.iii On the other side, Deontology totally opposes Utilitarianism. This theory is the ethical theory of duties, moral obligations and rights which focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions not on the consequence of those actions. The term is derived from the Greek word deon, which means “duty”. This theory is very rigid in a sense that it has fixed statements of duties. It is concerned with the intrinsic properties of action. This theory is very strict where rules are followed no matter how huge its cost may be. The most dominant deontological theory is presented by Immanuel Kant. Kant argues that to act in the morally right way, people must act according to dutyiv. Kant believed that the motives of any person make the action right or wrong. Question No.2 First of all, let’s analyse this situation keeping in view the utilitarianism theory of ethics. We need to know what the end results of this action are. The end result is a dam which will be providing waters to many areas as well as it would be creating electricity through hydroelectric. Farmers would have more water for their farms. In short, this dam will bring smiles in faces of thousands of people. But those who are moving for this construction will not be comfortable with this action. But then again we need to see the happiness of majority of the people. Therefore, as per the theory of utilitarianism, this construction of a new dam is not ethically wrong since the totally utility derived from this act would be more than the total disadvantages. In other words, the consequences of this action are in the favour of the majority of the people and therefore, it is considered a correct action. Let’s analyse the morality of this action through the Deontology theory of ethics. The construction of the dam involves people to leave their home and to move somewhere else. This movement of people which would be, most probably, against there will, is not justified. So it will be considered an incorrect action without any exceptions, as per the theory no matter how much benefits are achieved as consequences. It is something ethically and morally wrong as per this theory. Question No.3 Global warming is the most debateable issue in various local and international forums. In fact, it should be. Global warming is well defined by geogise.com as “When the average temperature of the Earths atmosphere and oceans increases, the phenomenon is called global warming.” Global warming is the immediate warming of our world and the reason of this warming is us. It is true as the research of about 2,500 scientists in more than 130 countries came to the conclusion that that human have caused all or most of the current planetary warming. v Effects of global warming: 1. Increase in the temperature. About an average, 1.4 degree Fahrenheit has climbed around the world since 1880.vi According to studies, the last two decades were the hottest in 400 years. 2. More chances of flooding, droughts, hurricanes, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters. 3. Glaciers are melting due to which water level in sea expands. It is said that Arctic Ocean will see its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or even earlier (Roach) Expansion of sea water level means that it would acquire more land. Thus decreasing the already limited space of the world. According to a report published by IPCC during Feb 2007, it is estimated that the sea level will rise between 7 and 23 inches by century’s end which could flood may South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia. vii 4. Ozone layer depletion 5. It will bring drastic food and water shortage and will affect the wild life badly. People and wildlife are more exposed to death and diseases due to floods, droughts, storms and other climatic changes.viii Question No. 4 In 2008, about 2601 TWh i.e. 16% of world’s electricity production was carried out through nuclear powerix and it provides 2.5% of total energy production in the world as of 2005. There are about 436 nuclear plant reactors in more than 30 countries while about 30 power plants are under construction. Energy is produced by the process of splitting the atoms by the interaction between three heavy elements which includes two forms of uranium and one form of plutonium which creates a chain reaction. Heat produced through this process is used to boil water to create stream which then drives the turbine resulting in producing electricity.x Basically, the formula of splitting the atoms was developed during the 2nd World War in order to develop bombs. Later, in 1950s, the noble cause of generating electricity was thought out through nuclear fission.xi The production of energy through nuclear power was heavily reduced after the catastrophic Chernobyl Disaster during 1986. This nuclear disaster is considered to be the world’s biggest nuclear power plant disaster in the history of the world. It released immense radioactivity and the plant was exploded. It is said that 400 times fallout released than that of Hiroshima explosionxii. Thirty people died on the spot and thousands of other has been killed due to diseased caused by ratio active rays. This disaster caused an epidemic of thyroid cancer in children and thousands of people had had to leave their homes and shift to a safer place. Now in 2009, the production of power through nuclear fission is again felt because of the arising issue of global warming. Global warming is appreciated by the usage of fossil fuels which is one of the chief causes of global warming.xiii Scientists are working hard to innovate alternative methods of energy production since the fossil fuels such as oil, gas, coal etc are limited in resource. During this quest, they found out energy production through nuclear fission. Though, the substance used in this nuclear fission i.e. Uraniumm is very rare in the world but its chain reaction make it infinite but there are complicated procedures in order to control the chain reaction not to increase up to a certain level or it may explode. Let’s compare the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy production with other kinds of energy production: Nuclear Energy Advantages: Nuclear power plants are more environmental friendly as these power plants don’t emit hazardous gases such as CO2, NO, CO, S. Moreover, these plants also do not have to pay carbon tax as they don’t emit toxic gases. The extraction of uranium is safer than the extraction of coal and other fossil fuels. Disadvantages: The process of energy generation through nuclear is a very sophisticated work. A minor disturbance in the system can cause catastrophic results as shown by Chernobyl. Further, the waste produced is highly poisonous. The problem of safe storage and disposal of nuclear waste is a lingering problem. However, scientists are trying to find a solution for this. Also, the initial cost of establishing a nuclear plant is very high. Another problem is that nuclear power plants uses double quantity of water for cooling purposes. Energy Production through Fossil Fuels: It is the energy produced by burning coal or petroleum or natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, Advantages: Production of energy through this technique does not need huge capital investment. For example, the production of hydroelectricity requires a huge infrastructure and need a dam or a river to come into existence and Nuclear Plant also requires huge investment. It can be build within a near a city or in the city because it take less space than the various forms. This technique for power generation is most suitable for the countries having direct access to cheap fossil fuels such as China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia etc. Disadvantages: Combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories, and homes contribute in polluting the environment and contribute in global warming. As per the website of Union of Concerned Scientists, a typical coal plant generates about 3,700,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) which is the main reason of global warming, 10,000 tons of sulphur dioxides (SO2) which causes acid rain, 500 tons of small airborne particles which causes chronic bronchitis, aggravated asthma, and premature death, 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), 720 tons of carbon monoxide (CO) and numerous tons of other hazardous chemicals.xiv Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources which mean it exhaust after its usage. High usage of fossil fuel may totally exhaust its resources. It has also become very difficult to obtain these fossil fuels by time as the mines are getting deeper. In fact, all those closely located mines are surely extracted first, so now we are moving towards far places to extract these fuels. Hydroelectricity: Energy produced by the force of moving waters. Hydropower plants are usually located on dams. Waters moves from the slope which moves the turbines resulting in creation of power. Advantages: One of the most important advantages of producing energy through hydropower is that it doesn’t pollute the environment as there is only water involved in the production process. These hydropower plants are usually used for decades. Though it requires huge capital investment, the cost of raw material to produce energy is nothing since it is game of water. Moreover, these dams are used for supplying water to nearby areas and for irrigational purposes. When electric generation is not needed, then the flow of water may be stopped by shutting sluice gates and may be opened again during time of high electricity demand. Disadvantages: The capital expenditure for establishing a dam is too much high. Moreover, establishing a dam means to acquire a very large area and to shift people living there and suburban areas to another place. Dams may be flooded due to excess rain and may cause destruction of life and property. It also increases the humidity of the area where the dam is situated. Furthermore, dams are usually created far from the actual place where the electricity would be consumed. It means long electric wires usage which results in decreasing the megawatts of electricity. If the distance between dam and the point of usage is more than 500 kilo metres, about 50% of the electricity would go waste. Also, hydroelectricity generation is affected by drought. Obviously, if there is no water, how would turbines run? Solar Energy: One of the most modern techniques for energy production, a solar energy is first obtained by the light of sun and then consumed. It is not much successful as it is dependent on the light of sun. It may be successful in the areas where the rays of sun are strong and the sky usually remains clear. Advantages: It is environmental friendly and a good alternative of energy production. Expense are incurred once only for the devices and then no raw material for it. However, it may sometime require repair and maintenance cost. Disadvantages: It generates electricity in a low volume. Furthermore, continuous sun light is required to charge the batteries and if there is no sun light, the batteries may not charge resulting in power disruption. So it may not be used as a reliable source of power generation. But scientists are working on it to improve solar energy system. References Read More