StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Moral judgement from utilitarianism's point of view and my own - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Introduction This paper seeks to analyze one good example of a moral judgment both in utilitarian view and my own view. My moral judgment in this paper is course of action that I deem to be more morally correct. In other words, I will simply state my judgment pertaining the specific side regarding the controversy I will argue for while considering utilitarianism`s view point…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.7% of users find it useful
Moral judgement from utilitarianisms point of view and my own
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Moral judgement from utilitarianism's point of view and my own"

Download file to see previous pages

In this case, utilitarian reasoning will definitely through many people into confusion and they will find themselves in dilemmas when they are supposed to make decisions especially decisions concerning human life. Here is a case where a runway trolley is just about to kill five people. However, the runway trolley can be sidetracked using a switch and in this situation it will only kill one person and save the rest. As a person making the decision, what is the right thing to do? Because utilitarian theory suggests that, our decision must maximize the overall good, then the switch must be switched in order to kill one person and save the five.

However, the big question is whether this is morally right addition to this, utilitarian theory requires that we put the interest of the group first and not the individual. This is because individuals possess a different degree of pleasure and pain. The moral rule for utilitarian are more general than ones specific moral judgment and it`s cannot be equated with any of the ethical principles since it will results to the greatest happiness only to greatest number of people but fails to consider the welfare and happiness of the minority.

However, utilitarianism still demands and does all that is required to save the greatest number of lives in the runway trolley incident. It`s better to save and salvage the lives of more people than to only save one live. This will definitely cause lesser pain as far as the number of people that were to be affected by this runway trolley tragedy is concerned. When the runway trolley is sidetracked using a switch and so it kills one person the utilitarianism argument is achieved in full force which, in this case, is the morally right thing to do.

However, according to my own point of view, I slightly differ with the utilitarian point of view. While utilitarianism advocates for maximizing the good for the majority, I strongly feel the need and good for the minority can supersede the majority`s need for good. If the son of God was a utilitarian, it would have been worthless for Him to look for the lost sheep and bring it back home. Besides, if the father of the prodigal son in the bible was also a utilitarian, he would have not considered and get bothered bringing his son back home.

Well my point is that utilitarianism only does what it takes to scarify the good of the minority in favor for the good of majority which is, in my opinion, is against my belief as a Christian and strong follower of Jesus and His teachings. In the runway trolley incident, they would have not sidetracked the runway trolley using a switch to kill the individual but instead they would have left nature and fate to dictate the finally ending of the tragedy. Although utilitarianism will make many people happy, I will have acted in the interest of many people but what makes other people happy is not what makes me happy.

Our degree of happiness is different. Therefore, my own point of view concerning this incident was to let the runway trolley kill whoever it will kill and spare whoever it will spare. This was the moral thing to do in this case according to my moral rule even though the utilitarianism reasoning and advocacy does not require and demands that . Even though the utilitarian point of view requires that pleasure be sought and therefore in this case, it will be

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Moral judgement from utilitarianism's point of view and my own Essay”, n.d.)
Moral judgement from utilitarianism's point of view and my own Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1491513-moral-judgement-from-utilitarianism-s-point-of
(Moral Judgement from utilitarianism'S Point of View and My Own Essay)
Moral Judgement from utilitarianism'S Point of View and My Own Essay. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1491513-moral-judgement-from-utilitarianism-s-point-of.
“Moral Judgement from utilitarianism'S Point of View and My Own Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1491513-moral-judgement-from-utilitarianism-s-point-of.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Moral judgement from utilitarianism's point of view and my own

Deontologism vs. Utilitarianism

The paper will explore the two theories, discuss their associated problems, and offer a view on the topic.... It is defined by the view that good actions leads to good rather than harmful results.... Aggregative and maximizing concepts of utilitarianism are on the other hand based on the view that even the most beneficial alternative is associated with possible reservations into unhappiness (Kanniyakonil, 2007).... Utilitarianism can be understood from two perspectives, “act utilitarianism, and rule utilitarianism” (Kanniyakonil, 2007, p....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Ethical Problems of Gambling

The paper "Ethical Problems of Gambling" highlights that I perceive gambling as shaped by my social interaction with my family and friends.... However, the instance when gambling is done excessively to the point that it damages the relationship with other people, loses finances and suffers psychologically, is beyond my acceptable borders.... Given that some of its forms are regarded as activities that have become socially acceptable and legitimate not only in the American society but the rest of the world, gambling happens to affect the behaviors of individuals from having no involvement at all to highly involved....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

Principle of Utilitarianism

nbsp;Allen is successful and effective in leaving the audience reflecting on their own lives and the choices they made that are based on a personal understanding and belief of goodness and badness.... It is in this line of thought that Kant differentiated moral judgments from empirical ones.... Empirical judgments refer to judging facts of which experience teaches us, while moral judgment tells us what we ought and not ought to do.... Empirical judgment does not relate to the understanding of moral action....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Moral dilemma of whether euthanasia is ethically acceptable

This paper weighs in on the ethics of euthanasia as it applies to elderly people near death and suffering, and in the context of such people being in nursing homes and hospices, being administered end of life care… my own experience visiting, interacting with residents and workers, and reflecting on those experiences at Brandon Woods is the mine of concrete experience on which I intend to draw insights into the ethics of euthanasia.... my own experience visiting, interacting with residents and workers, and reflecting on those experiences at Brandon Woods is the mine of concrete experience on which I intend to draw insights into the ethics of euthanasia....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Justification Employed by Kant in his Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morals

Although Kant deals with the analysis of the human behaviour, he stills avoid to refer to the human reactions from a… as to whether a particular action was moral or not) but he just defines certain criteria for the evaluation of the human behaviour supporting that the integration of the human reaction with the particular system of evaluation (as presented in his ) can be achieved only with if based on the observation of the actions from an objective point of view and not a critical one because in this case there is the possibility that certain behaviours could be characterized as hostile to the general social framework, an action which should be avoided – at least at the primary stage of the behavioural analysis....
13 Pages (3250 words) Essay

Religion in the Workplace

Free discussion at least allows expressing different perspectives and points of view to their supporters and opponents more clearly.... So the person making the moral choice should look not only for own welfare but also for the welfare of the others.... hellip; Despite the modern world's outlook diversity among people, basic moral standards of right and wrong still exist.... Utilitarianism is a teleological moral theory, which states that a sign of the correctness of our actions is a manifestation of the greatest good for the greatest number of people....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Ethics and Gambling

People are putting at stake their own money because they can gain more money in return.... Finally, this paper concludes with my personal view of the ethics of gambling....             The problems and issues associated with gambling are varied from mild to severe.... Some people casually gamble and find themselves entertained without suffering from any harm.... However, Petry (2005) and Ashley and Boehlke (2012) characterized these serious gamblers who let gambling have power over their lives as those suffering from a mental health disorder called pathological gambling....
8 Pages (2000 words) Term Paper

Case Analysis of Hacking into Harvard

It has misunderstood the nature and point of morality.... The adjective 'unethical' describes the behavior to be bad and against the moral judgment of an individual.... However, many critics have also stated that ethical egoism is not a moral principle and it also ignores blatant wrongs.... The actions of the curious applicants' were only to fulfill their self-interest, there was egoism in their activities and hence the actions were not moral (Shaw, 2007)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Case Study
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us