What is Utilitarianism What are two objections to this view - Essay Example

?Topic: Utilitarianism What is Utilitarianism?  What are two objections to this view?  What is a response that can be given to each of the objections?  In the end, should Utilitarianism be accepted as the correct view of morality?   Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a philosophical concept which had its origin in Great Britain. The man behind the Utilitarian concept is Jeremy Bentham and he weighed pleasure and pain as the consequence of one’s own action. More precisely, Utilitarianism refers to a concept where in the proportion of pleasure and pain is related to the course of action performed by a human being. According to this concept, only pleasure is good and pain is bad. The Utilitarianism concept can be considered as one kind of consequentialism, where the happiness is considered as the measuring tool to gauge the morality of an action. According to Bentham, only an action can be morally right if it brings utmost happiness to a person. If it is not bringing pleasure then the action is regarded to be wrong. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory which focuses on right and wrong based on an outcome of an action or a policy. This theory is not restricted around the interest of oneself but consider the goodness of other too. One of the principles of utilitarianism is that it gives high importance to the role of pleasure and pain in our life. Secondly, it considers an action good or bad based on its consequences. Thirdly, this theory equates goodness with pleasure and bad with pain. Thirdly, it acknowledges pleasure and pain as a quantifiable emotion. Bentham has also attached some criteria to measure pain and pleasure like intensity, certainty, nearness and duration. Moreover, the criterion of “extent” is used to quantify the actions which affect many numbers of people. Objections to Utilitarianism Objection One: The one objection to Utilitarianism is that, life is not all about physical pleasure but the aspects like virtue, knowledge matters too. Is life a phenomenon, where action can be gauged with pleasure and pain seeking emotional element? Is it not core valuable principle of ethics and morality the corner stone of life? It is satirical to think that one achieves physical pleasure by conducting ethical and moral principles in life. Physical pleasure cannot be regarded as an end to the mission of life. Moreover, virtue is accountable only if one performs selfless service which in turn is not a pleasure giving affect. Additionally, knowledge is acquired through pleasure but by hard work and by undergoing painful experiences. Here utilitarian concept cannot be applied as the objection proves that gains from pain taking experience are far more valuable than actions which give only momentary physical pleasure. Response: The response to the first objection is that, life should not be only concentrated and focused on physical pleasures. The aspect like virtue and knowledge matters a lot when it comes to the issue of psychological pleasures of a human being. If a person has knowledge and good character he can gain self confidence and self realization which is far more superior to physical pleasure. . A man’s life should very well reflect morality, modesty and sacrifice. These elements might not give pleasure to a person, but they indeed prove his character to be valuable and divine. Moreover, acquiring knowledge requires hard work and the benefit of being knowledgeable is that one acquires wisdom. To acquire wisdom, one must go through various experiences in life and these actions are mostly less pleasure giving. For example, Socrates was a great Greek philosopher, who led an extremely simple life. He Life was not at all luxurious but his knowledge and virtue was par excellence. He never committed any action to achieve happiness but followed justice and morality. He experienced real mental happiness in practicing virtue and ethics but did not opt for physical pleasure as he defined senses as illusionary. Objection Two: Another objection is that, this utilitarian concept is too demanding as it appeals always to increase happiness, giving less attention to other elements of life. Is Life a journey where only happiness as value and other elements like love, sacrifice, selfless service, sympathy, affection and austerity takes a back seat? Is it practical for a person to continuously demand for happiness in life in a lookout for pleasure? If one only concentrates on pleasure then he proves to himself to be a selfish person rather than a social human being. It is not meaningless to think happiness as a less realistic principle of life as it is the very nature of life to undergo pain giving experiences. Utilitarianism demands happiness as core element in life and proves life to be a recreational concept than a fire test ground. Here, the theory of Utilitarianism is not viable as pleasure seeking life can be considered as characterless and as a selfish one. Response: The utilitarian concept only focuses on physical happiness. However, a person cannot conduct practice life with a view to achieve only happiness. In order for a life to continue, people need to confront many hardship and miseries. It is not possible for a person to neglect his responsibilities and duties towards his family and society in the lookout for happiness. Happiness is a philosophical term which refers to the joy and serenity of soul. As a spiritual creature man has great responsibility of keeping his soul pure and pious. If one chase behind sense gratification and pleasure, then he is considered to be equal to animals. Many times it is evident that a moral action often brings less joy to people. For example, a mother is always looking at the happiness of a child and sacrifices many pleasure giving action for the benefit of her child. Here, the mother’s happiness is less important as she looks at the morality of her role as a mother. In the end, the Utilitarianism cannot be considered as a correct view of morality as it fails to look at the real consequences of good actions. Many a times, it can be seen that sacrificial action leads to goodness and virtue. For example, Jesus Christ sacrificed his every happiness for the sake of benefit of others and his actions are considered to be the best and moralistic one. If one seeks only happiness one cannot do justice to his ethical and moral responsibilities. Read More