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Utilitarianism is egalitarian and allows us all personal autonomy - it is not legalistic like deontological ethical theories. We do not consider any other element besides happiness.
It loses a sense of what is truly valuable in life.
Strengths and weaknesses of utilitarianism. Perhaps the biggest strength of Utilitarianism is that it is at least prima facie easier to reach a conclusion under this theory than other theories. That is Utilitarianism provides us with a clear path for determining which action in a given situation will be the correct one. Strengths and Weaknesses of Utilitarianism continued 4.
Justice objection Utilitarianism can require unjust actions Response. Justice is not an absolute but it makes good sense to have a principle of justice we generally follow. Publicity objection It is not prudent to recommend that everyone act as a utilitarian.
So a utilitarian looking back on this would say that to save the baby was the wrong thing to do because of what he did in his life. The doctor could have never known because we cant see the future. Another weakness of the utilitarian theory is the problem of special responsibilities.
Harm Utilitarianism seems to be in line with our intuitions that harming people is intrinsically wrong. Greatest good It does follow from the above that the right course of action is the one that leads to the most happiness and least harm. Utilitarianism theory holds that good things are those that bring maximum happiness to human beings.
This theory has both strengths and weaknesses. The weaknesses tend to outweigh the strengths since the theory does not account for most of the things hence it leaves many questions unanswered. Rape theft and lying are seen as bad where as giving helping and healing are seen as good things.
One obvious thing that these things have in common is that most of the things agreed to be good are things which make people happy and most of the things agreed to be bad are things. By each point Ive suggested how strengthsweaknesses may apply to environmentbusinesssex issues. The main strengths are as follows.
Utilitarianism is egalitarian and allows us all personal autonomy - it is not legalistic like deontological ethical theories. List of the Cons of Utilitarianism. We do not consider any other element besides happiness.
Utilitarianism only focuses on majority happiness as a way to determine ethics and morality. It is essential that we remember there are other items of value to consider when looking at the overall experience of what it means to be human. This example clearly shows how utilitarianism can cause injustice and the denial of human rights.
The theory disregards motivation and goodwill says that the majority is always right and Does not protect the innocent minorities. John Rawls agreed with this weakness. He argued that utilitarianism is.
Not only does Utilitarianism lead to morally wrong actions being performed for the sake of maximum pleasure but it also leads to a society where some human beings are treated better than others and law to some extent becomes irrelevant. As Michael Palmer put it. Strengths and Weaknesses of Utilitarianism In the article Strengths and Weaknesses of Utilitarianism Louis P.
Pojman explained the grounds on which utilitarianism has been attacked and showed some possible response to its defenders which imply his positive attitude towards utilitarianism. Harm again Utilitarianism seems to be in line with our intuitions that harming people is intrinsically wrong. Mechanical Utilitarianism reduces morality to simple maths.
It loses a sense of what is truly valuable in life. Greatest good It does follow from the above that the right course of action is the one that leads to the most. As with all moral theories utilitarianism has many strengths and weaknesses.
The main strength for this theory is that it is always looking for the greatest good for the greatest number. This means that the majority will always benefit. Utilitarianism may have its strengths in the sense that it is considering consequences of each situation and making a decision that is most beneficial to the majority.
It is based on consequences as outlined in HDM p69 every situation will be different entailing different facts. Strengths And Weaknesses Of Utilitarianism. Suppose a conductor is driving his train and the breaks are defect.
The rails lead directly into a cluster of five people who would all die if the train will go this direction. However the conductor can change onto another track where only one person is standing hence only one person would die. Utilitarianism was Originally formulated by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century and fully developed by John Stewart Mill in the 19th.
It Asserts that we should always act so as to produce the greatest ratio of good to evil for everyone concerned with our decision and As with all moral theories has many strengths and weaknesses. Strengths and Weaknesses of Utilitarianism Louis P. Pojman Utilitarianism has been subject to a variety of criticisms.
Pojman 19352005 who was Professor of Philosophy at the United States Military Academy explains the grounds on which utilitarianism has been attacked and the possible responses available to its defenders. Strengths and weaknesses of utilitarianism. Cahn ed Exploring Ethics.
Oxford University Press 2009 Authors Louis P. Pojman Oxford University DPhil Abstract This article has no associated abstract. The world itself is a mouthful but it represents a belief and moral system that has been around since the 19th century.
It is an ethical theory that very closely stems from the idea of consequentialism. Strengths and weaknesses of Rule Utilitarianism. Sidgewick - In practice it is hard to distinguish between higher and lower pleasures This is due to the subjectivity of pleasure and the difficulty of defining happiness.
Answer 1 of 2. Utilitarianism is a family of ethical philosophies that focus on maximizing the utility that people experience in their life. Utility is defined to be something of intrinsic value.
In the classical conception this was happiness being positive utility and suffering being negativ. One of the biggest strength is that it is a universal rule accessible whatever culture religion and society so that it can be applied to everyone and everyone knows where they stand with it because it is universal you can be more comfortable when communicating with people of.