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Utilitarianism - Research Papers

Utilitarianism

is the ethical theory that all actions should be directed toward achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. This objection is also considered the aim of all legislation and is the ultimate criterion of all social institutions.
Philosopher John Mill responds to an objection about in the text. The object is that utilitarians are moralists.They believe that a person is judged by their actions and not by their character. For example, if a person is accused of doing something morally wrong, like committing a crime, but then the person’s character is changed during his or her time incarcerated. No matter how good one’s actions are now, that person will always be ...

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a brave, or a benevolent man, or the contrary.”
Utilitarian also state “a right action does not necessarily indicate a virtuous character.” Utilitarians are not looking at the other qualities that many make that person beautiful. They are only looking at the action that the person did wrong.What Mill tells us is that a person of good character is judged by his or her good actions. Mills suggests us that utilitarians do not look beyond their moral beliefs to find any good characteristics in an individual. He quotes, “ there is nothing in the utilitarian theory inconsistent with the fact that there are other things which interest us in a person besides the rightness and wrongness of their actions.”
An example, of Mill’s response to his theory is, if an individual is caught up in the wrong crowd and is caught stealing, and the person is truly sorry for the crime that he or she has committed and is a well rounded person, than he or she should not be looked upon as a destructive ...

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Utilitarianism. (2008, January 31). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Utilitarianism/78291

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"Utilitarianism." Essayworld.com. January 31, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Utilitarianism/78291.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 1/31/2008 02:42:36 AM
Category: Miscellaneous
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 449
Pages: 2

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