This expanded edition of John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism includes the text of his 1868 speech to the British House of Commons defending the use of capital punishment in cases of aggravated murder. The speech is significant both because its topic remains timely and because its arguments illustrate the applicability of the principle of utility to questions of large-scale s… 
Our morality, which is what, is right and what is wrong is based on our decisions and actions we make each and every day. Unlike animals that rely solely on instinct alone, we as human beings have the ability to make our own decisions based upon our beliefs. You have to ask yourself what is … Read more
Theory in itself has intrinsic value in political thought but a theory is only as strong as the case made for it and the explanation thereof. Even the most beautifully constructed theory that lacks sufficient evidence or specificity is useless in practice because a theory is worthless if it cannot be used in reality. The … Read more
If the utility of wealth inspired people then they would admire the happiness that the rich, the noble or the ‘superior in society’, as Smith calls them, derive from their wealth and not the seemingly beauty that comes with wealth. Smith asserts that sympathy drives us to act the way we do. As observers, we … Read more
Utilitarianism states that “an act is only right if it causes the greatest happiness in the greatest number. ” In his essay Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill added a qualitative component to this mathematically driven theory. Mill created a distinction between higher, intellectual pleasures and lower, bodily pleasures. Mill stated that some pleasures are of a … Read more
I’m doing my final paper on John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism theory. The source I’m using is Mill, John Stuart Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary issues, edited by Steven M. Cahn and Peter Markie 362-396. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Thesis: I will show how the greatest happiness principle (GHP) should have greater nuance so … Read more
In this paper, I will refute the utility monster objection to utilitarianism by showing that it trades on questionable presuppositions about moral expertise. To make this point, my argument will hinge on a complete understanding of what it means to become an expert in general. My intention in delineating what is required of someone who … Read more
In this analytical paper I’ll be analyzing a scenario about a five year old girl who is in renal failure and is in need of a kidney transplant. In this the father is the only one compatible with her, but he does not want to donate his kidney to save her life. The scenario will … Read more
“As I write this, in November 1971, people are dying in East Bengal from lack of food, shelter, and medical care” Singer stated. (Pojman 759) Peter Singer is an ethical and political philosophy that is well known for his founding movement of modern animal rights. (Peter Singer) Moreover, he believed that people who are suffering … Read more
Utilitarianism is a consequential perspective, in that, a decision in based on the effects it —-will have on society and what it will generally lead to. Also, the utility or usefulness of an action is determined by the amount of happiness that will result. Therefore, no action in itself can be deemed wrong; consequence alone … Read more