...Jeremy Bentham was born in London, England on the February 15, 1748. He was known for being a proponent in the utilitarian movement. Jeremy father was a Lawyer, having decided that Jeremy would follow his footsteps. At the age twelve, Jeremy attended Queens College, Oxford. After Jeremy graduated from Queens College he immediately entered Lincolns Inn to study law and found out his weakness to public speaking and left Lincoln Inn to concentrate on his writings (Jeremy Bentham). As Jeremy focused on his writings he wrote a number of books on philosophy, economics and politics. He began expressing his conservative political views, until he was exposed to Joseph Priestly. Joseph Priestly work impacted the views of Jeremy and later Jeremy changed his views according to his work. Jeremy published work like, Principles of International Law, A fragment of Government, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Catechism of Reformers, Constitutional Code and many more (Spartacus Educational). Fig. 1. A cartoon shows does the end justify the means (UTILITARIANISM). According to the Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, is where Jeremy articulates rational principles that would provide a basis and guide for legal, social and moral reform. Jeremy then developed fundamental moral principles on which laws should be set. Jeremy philosophy of utilitarianism stated, “The greatest happiness principle” or “the principle of utility”. These statements were...
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...Jeremy Bentham was born on February 15, 1748 in Houndsditch, England. He is the son of a lawyer from London. Jeremy was a lover of reading and by the time that he was ten years old he had learned some other languages including Latin, Greek and French. Due to his intelligence, Jeremy was able to attend some of the greatest schools like Westminster, Queen’s College, and Lincoln’s Inn. By the age of eighteen, Jeremy had received his degree of a Master of Arts and at nineteen he was able to take the bar exam in Oxford. Jeremy died in1832 and is remembered as a political theorist, jurist, and a philosopher. Jeremy is widely known for the abolition of slavery, an advocate of animal rights and the founder of utilitarianism (a philosophy advocating the greatest happiness of the greatest number). Jeremy Bentham was a social activist and firmly believed in equal right not only for slaves but all people and sexes, he fought for woman’s rights way before times we can even remember and fought to end the death penalty, while later on giving his example and ideology of the prison system. Jeremy did not care much for practicing law and often considered formal education a form of hypocrisy. This led him to focus on his true passion of morals and utilitarianism. In 1789’s Jeremy Introduced the Principles of Morals and Legislation in which utilitarianism was born. He added to his theory a means that will measure the actions that institutions and individuals make. Jeremy has spent a lot of time...
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...BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN STUART MILL Born in Pentonville, a suburb of London, in 1806, John Stuart Mill was one of the leading philosophical radicals who aimed to further the utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham. At the age of three he began to learn Greek and by the time he was eight he was learning Latin. By the age of fourteen he had done extensive work in logic and mathematics mastering the basics of economic theory. His father James Mill aimed to make John Stuart Mill a leader in views of the philosophical radicals. At fifteen John Stuart Mill undertook the study of Bentham’s research on the theory of legal evidence. This undertaking influenced him making this his life-long goal of reforming the world in the interest of human well-being. At eighteen he spent much time and effort editing manuscripts. Guided by his father he threw himself into the work of the philosophical radicals beginning his career. In 1823 he began working with his father. He rose in the ranks quickly and eventually took his father’s position as Chief Examiner in the East Indian Company. In 1826 John Stuart Mill went through a deep depression. He felt as though his intellect had been educated his feelings had not. He began to read poetry and met Gustave d’Eichtahl in 1828 pulling him out of the depression. He was introduced to the works of Auguste Comte and Jon Sterling who were disciples of Coleridge. (Wilson 2007) Through these great thinkers Mill came to appreciate social and cultural...
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...John Stuart Mills a famous utilitarian obeyed Bentham’s idea of utilitarianism but he redefined this to iron out these objections and make the theory more acceptable to the Victorian middle classes. His father was a friend of Bentham’s and, like Bentham he was preciously bright, he was reading Greek by the age of three and by the age of ten he had read all the classical authors usually required of undergraduates. Unlike other Victorians he argued strongly for equal rights for women. As well as being one of the most important of all moral philosophers, then, Mill is also one of the great political theorists, and still valued by many as the father of modern political liberalism. Mill’s theory originates from only part of Bentham’s theory which states that utilitarianism is a teleological theory, which involves looking at the future effects or consequences of an action, which therefore implies that it is the consequences which are right or wrong, not the actions or motives. This means that an action should be chosen because it creates the right consequences and not the wrong ones. Mill also agrees with the idea of hedonism, which refers to the idea that naturally everybody experiences pleasure or pain. It claims that pleasure should be maximised as it is intrinsically good where as pain is intrinsically bad and therefore should be minimised. In addition to this the principle of Utility, also an idea of Bentham’s, judges an action by how useful it is in bringing about good consequences...
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...Situation Ethics * Situation ethics was most famously championed by Joseph Fletcher (1905-1991). * He believed that we should follow the rules until we need to break them for reasons of love. * It is based on agape love (Christian unconditional love), and says that we should always do the most loving thing in any situation. * Fletcher rejected following rules regardless (legalism) and also the idea that we should not have any rules (antinomianism) and said that we need to find a balance between the two. Four working principles When establishing his version of Situation Ethics, Fletcher used four key principles which he aimed to fulfil in writing his theory: 1. Pragmatism (it has to work in daily life - it must be practical) 2. Relativism (there should be no fixed rules) 3. Positivism (it must put faith before reasoning – "I am a Christian, so what should I do?") 4. Personalism (people should be at the centre of the theory) Six Fundamental Principles There are six fundamental things that underlie Fletcher's Situation Ethics: 1. Love is the only absolute (it is intrinsically good) 2. Christian decision making is based on love 3. Justice is love distributed 4. Love wants the good for anyone, whoever they are 5. Only the end justifies the means 6. Love is acted out situationally not prescriptivally Advantages of Situation Ethics The key advantage is that it uses rules to provide a framework but allows people to break rules to reflect life's complexities...
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...The In Dr. Michael Sandel’s video, “The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number”, the issue of utilitarianism in regards to policy making is discussed. In particular, the philosophies of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are called into question and applied to modern day scenarios that illustrate how difficult it can be to create a policy based on utilitarianism alone. Several issues arise throughout the course of the discussion that create doubt as to its effectiveness as well as convincing evidence in support. In the opening segment, Dr. Sandel speaks about Jeremy Bentham’s idea of utilitarianism. Benthem believed that a society must maximize happiness (utility) in order to provide the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people. He argues that a community is the sum of all its parts and so in deciding on a policy or law for that particular community, all the benefits of a decision must be compared with all the negative impacts of the decision and whatever maximizes the balance of pleasure over displeasure is the correct decision to make. In order to put this in a more modern perspective, Dr. Sandel introduces two cost-benefit analysis’ created by two major American companies that were used in making important business decisions. They did this by placing a dollar value on utility. The first analysis was done by Phillip Morris, a cigarette manufacturer, on a decision of whether or not the Czech Republic should increase the tax on smoking. In the study, Phillip...
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...patients deserve the transplant but the most one who deserves it was Jerry. Even though, Lisa is only 12 years of age I had to take into consideration that she has had life-long health issue and this transplant is not a guarantee of resolving her life-long health issue. Now Ozzy on the other hand, I took into consideration that he was a drug abuser. With that being said I thought about would he change his life if he was given the heart transplant or will he continue to abuse drugs. Once I took all the different possible into consideration; the ethical terms, I have decided to give the transplant to Jerry, I found him to be the more deserving one. I look at the example of the utilitarian ethical philosophy of John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham in which they claim that the best course of action is the one that leads to maximum satisfaction and happiness. The consequences of an action would determine if the action should be taken or not taken. So the morality of an action sis not the predetermined; it is determined by the consequences that are caused by the action. I am pretty stating that I have been face with the same problem, if I do not think about my actions, then I may end up choosing the one that appears ethical today, but will not be the best results for tomorrow. The reason behind selecting Jerry for the transplantation of the heart is that...
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...Utilitarianism: * Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes utility, usually defined as maximizing happiness and reducing suffering. * The Utilitarian tradition is often summarised as “the greatest good for the greatest number” * “The Classical Utilitarians, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, identified the good with pleasure”. Therefore pleasure is the ultimate goal that will lead to an ethical society, according to the Utilitarian approach. John Stuart Mill: * was an English philosopher, political economist and civil servant. * He has been called "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century Theory of liberty: * Mill states that it is acceptable for someone to harm himself as long as he is not harming others. * On Liberty involves an impassioned defense of free speech * The individual ought to be free to do as he wishes unless he harms others. * Individuals are rational enough to make decisions about their good being and choose any religion they want to. * Government should interfere when it is for the protection of society. * Freedom of speech Harm principle: * The harm principle holds that the actions of individuals should only be limited to prevent harm to other individuals. * John Stuart Mill articulated this principle in On Liberty, where he argued that, "The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised...
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...Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon Design Two models A penitentiary had purposes to be both secular and spiritual. Instead of a penitentiary being all about physical punishment, it was supposed to be a place of humane punishment for wrong doers. Instead of prisoners being bunched together, the true penitentiary was meant to have them separated from each other to avoid contamination of the body and spirit. I personally think that a penitentiary should be more like a place to make an inmate know that they did wrong by breaking the law. The first model was called the Pennsylvania system. It was based on the idea of "separate and silent." The state of Pennsylvania built two big prisons, one in Philadelphia and another in Pittsburgh. These were known as Eastern Penitentiary and Western Penitentiary, respectively. Eastern Penitentiary was operational from 1829 to 1971, and there are some good photos and videos of it at http://www.easternstate.org/explore/flickr, and the Wikipedia article on it is pretty good. Western was a poor imitation of Jeremy Bentham's panopticon design (explained shortly), and Eastern better characterized the model as consisting of large cells that faced outside so each inmate would have a small amount of outdoor space or footage. Inmates could exercise in their own cells, have their meals delivered, and never come in contact with another inmate. If they wanted to plant a garden in their outdoor patio, they could. If they wanted to engage in handicraft...
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...Utilitarianism— A Flawed Moral Theory Utilitarianism is an ethical theory founded by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. This theory stresses the greatest happiness principle. Actions that promote happiness are seen as morally acceptable while things that fail to promote happiness are seen as morally unacceptable. The pursuit of happiness is the key concept in utilitarianism. Rachel’s further explains this idea in The Right Thing to Do, “Utilitarianism is the theory that we should always try to bring about as much happiness as possible”(Rachels, 40). The term happiness when used by Rachels means the absence of pain or the presence of pleasure. I will argue against the theory of utilitarianism simply because it is too demanding and directly conflicts with moral common sense. At first glance, utilitarianism seems like an acceptable theory. The idea of promoting happiness is simple and widely appealing. Unfortunately, utilitarianism is not as simple as it seems. The concept should be rejects as it is not morally plausible. The first objection with the theory stems from the general structure where it directly conflicts with moral common sense. Using utilitarianism, when there are two different options being considered, moral common sense is one option, while utilitarianism is the opposite option. An example of this is seen while riots occur. Suppose riots are occurring in a town because citizens are being killed by an unknown suspect. As the person in charge, there...
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...Traditionally, the basis of utilitarianism is to do what will result in the greatest good for the most amount of people. However, in the article I read; Analyzing Insider Trading from the Perspectives of Utilitarian Ethics and Rights Theory written by Robert McGee, McGee described that as a bit of an outdated perspective. He instead gave a description of what he sees as the “modern utilitarian position”, where in order for something to be considered ethical, the gains would simply need to exceed the losses. He uses both of these definitions of utilitarianism to weigh the ethical correctness of insider trading and to address the common arguments against such practices from a utilitarian standpoint. The most obvious strength of this approach is that it serves to benefit the most amount of people. In his article, McGee emphasizes that efficiency is not a substitute for ethics, which I see as paralleling utilitarianism and is another aspect that makes it such a rational approach. This ensures that even though there may be a way to do something better/faster, if it doesn’t result in a positive outcome for the most amount of people, it isn’t the right thing to do. Using the example given in the article, although insider trading may increase efficiency for a single company, the hit that competing companies would most likely take as a result would eliminate any benefit to the larger population. The strengths of such an approach are ideal, seeing as regardless of all else, they would...
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...The argument for animal rights assumes that animals posses their own lives and deserve to be assigned rights in order to protect their wellbeing. This view insists that animals are not merely good utilized only to benefit mankind and they should be allowed to choose how they want to live their lives, free from the constraints of man. But if animals are given absolute rights, then surely they shouldn’t be allowed to kill each other, as this would be a violation of these rights. Should murderous animals be administered prison sentences or even…capital punishment? One method of preventing animals killing each other would be to provide animals with a vegetarian environment which caters for their every need. However, in this fictional vegetarian world wouldn’t the rights of the animal be suppressed as it is being held in captivity against its will? From an evolutionary point of view it is the natural right of a stronger animal to devour a weaker one. If this is acceptable then surely it is acceptable for us to eat meat too, as we humans are more evolved than the creatures we eat. But this argument implies that if you have physical power over someone or something then you should be allowed to do what you want. If this was the case, it would be perfectly acceptable for me to torture an infant, purely because I have the physical capacity to do so and if an alien race should happen to invade Earth with the intention and power to kill and eat us, they should also be allowed...
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...According to the book “Ways of Reading” by Bartholomae, Petrosky, and Waite, panopticism in Foucault’s paper is the all Seeing Eye. He starts his essay of by talking about the plague in the seventeenth century. There was a closing of the town and its outer lying districts. Each street was placed under the authority of a syndic, who keeps it under surveillance. Each house was watched over by the syndic who would come to lock each door from the outside of the house. Everyone was quarantined into their homes. The severity of this lack of freedom was expressed in Foucault’s essay when he said inspection functions ceaselessly. The gaze is alert everywhere, and a considerable body of militia, commanded by good officers and men of substance, guards everyone, everywhere, to prompt the obedience of the people. Foucault discussed the rise of lepers, which also gave rise to disciplinary projects. Rather than separating people into groups, like they did during the plague, multiple distinctions were used to separate people. The plague-stricken town was, as Foucault states, traversed throughout the hierarchy, surveillance, writing, the town immobilized by the functions of extensive power. In order to have the perfect disciplinary functioning, one would put themselves in the place of the syndic during the plague. This control over people functioned to cut them off from all contact with each other. According to the reading, Foucault talked about the Panopticon, a building that was separated...
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...Critically assess the view that utilitarianism is of no use when making decisions about sexual ethics. (35 marks) Utilitarianism is a theory mainly derived and developed by Jeremy Bentham and John Stewart Mill. Bentham was headanistic and stated that happiness consisted of pleasure minus pain. This essentially is what makes the ethical theory difficult to use when making decisions about sexual ethics as everyone’s ideas of pain and pleasure varies therefore it is hard to come to a solid decision, especially as sexual acts mostly involve more than one person, this can cause conflict. However, It would not be fair to say that Utilitarianism is of no use at all when making decisions about sexual ethics as it can provide a useful tool when considering such issues in some cases. Although, it seems that if ‘use’ is taken to mean the clarity of decision making in a practical sense, Natural Law would be a better alternative on matters such as contraception as more of a clear response would be provided. A theory’s usefulness depends on your definition. Thus, with different definitions, Utilitarianism’s use can change. One important area of sexual ethics is the issue of contraception. A utilitarian approach may be considered of use when applied to the subject of contraception, when use is defined as fitting in to modern society. Utilitarianism considers the maximising happiness and minimising pain for the maximum number. It must consider the consequences of an action. It can be...
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...Responsibility to Animals Animals only exist through the eyes of the beholder. They are cute kitties, sweet puppies, and then we have animals like rats, chickens, cows, and pigs. Some animals we have emotional commitment with and those we do not. We are arguing for animals to have the rights as humans do. There are animals being used in labs, in poor conditions on farms for mast productions, and animals being mistreated. Should any animal have the right to life? Should they have the right to be pain free? Have right to food? Animals cannot not speak for themselves, so people are having to speak up for them. Animals do have rights that are the same as humans. Whether or not proving if animals should have the right could change how they are treated and the usage of animals. "What we conclude about animal rights will have consequences for the food we eat and the clothes we wear, and it will have direct bearing on the kinds of science we think morally justifiable"(Cohen, 1986). The argument here other than animal rights is that humans think they are in control of their own rights or wrong ideas as long as society or culture goes along with them. When asking the question, “what are our moral obligations to animals,” the argument is that we do not have any obligations toward animals, due to them being species, not taking part of political contract or of determining what right or wrong is. Humans have laws in place that we have created, therefore, non-humans are expose to the rules...
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