The Utilitarian Opinion Over Homosexuality - Essay Example

Week 4 paper assignment Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that advocates for the good of members of society. It offers a basis for determining morality based on consequences. As a result, an act or rule that leads to more social good than wrong is termed ethical while an act or rule whose net consequence elicits bad impacts is considered immoral. The doctrine of utilitarianism rest on the worldview of maximizing benefits for all members of society. As a result, the theory views actions from their impacts on involved stakeholders (Custodio, DVD).

The utilitarian theory identifies a number of ethical principles. One such principle is the autonomy that the theory contradicts. Autonomy defines respect for a person’s liberty and the right to make personal choices. While it advocates for individualism, utilitarianism only observes such individual rights if they observe the maximum benefits of other members of society. Utilitarianism also involves the ethical principle of beneficence that corresponds to its core provision. The principle of beneficence provides for a person’s responsibility to ensure good to other people, a provision that offers a step to maximum good under the utilitarian theory.

The theory also relates to the principle of non-malfeasance that restraints individuals from causing harm to others. This contributes to the measure of utilitarianism which measures the net of good and bad from an action or a rule (Custodio, DVD). A number of personalities have been associated with advocacy for the utilitarianism theory. Examples are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart. Bentham developed the core principle that ethics is determined by the measure of right or wrong from an action or a rule.

Stuart however defended the theory by separating pleasure and pain from the theory’s concepts. He argued that moral acts should generate pleasure but minimize pain (Custodio, DVD). Utilitarianism, therefore, views sexual mores in the context of macro social perspectives and the wider impacts of sexual behavior on people. Consequently, it does not approve of social behavior just because it is a private affair but views its effects, such as social impacts, on other people. Controversial sexual behavior that adversely affects other people’s happiness and comfort is therefore disapproved by the theory (Custodio, DVD).

Even though there has been liberalization of both law and attitude towards homosexuality, it remains controversial because of the small percentage of the population that are homosexuals as compared to those who are not and those who still hold negative opinions and are not comfortable with the sexual orientation. Consequently, the large percentage that is negatively affected by sexual orientation induces social concern due to generated conflict. The fact that this population is affected by the existence or publicity of sexual orientation also raises ethical concerns such as ethical principles of autonomy and beneficence.

Further, the current large population that does have not accepted homosexuality, and is therefore adversely affected by it, means that sexual orientation is, at least under utilitarianism, unethical (Custodio, DVD). There are however a number of views that contradicts the utilitarian opinion over homosexuality. Egoists for instance advocates for the rights of homosexuals because forcing them to change would be more harmful to the group. The egoists’ opinion also identifies a benefit of homosexuality’s social acceptance that can lead to more responsible sexual behavior among the group and a lower risk factor to the public with respect to sexually transmitted diseases (Custodio, DVD).