Index

Definition
Examples
Considerations
Problems




Utilitarian approach
0 Definition:-
According to Jeremy Bentham An action
is right from ethical point of view if and only if the sum
total of utilities produced by that act is greater than the
sum total of utilities produced by any other act ;the
agent could have perform in its place.

0 Example :-
1. Budget was passed for building highway
but contractor built flyover in place of highway, building
of this flyover is more beneficial for people for and
society also.
2. A general example is the decision
whether or not to sacrifice one innocent life to save two
innocent lives . From a utilitarian standpoint, it seems
like killing one to save two is the correct choice.
Utilitarian is all about promoting the "greatest amount
of good," and this sometimes means choosing the least
bad of several bad options.
0 Considerations:-

I. You must determine what alternative actions are
available
II. You must determine direct & indirect cost and
benefit , the action would produced for all involved
in future
III. You must choose the alternative that reduces the
greatest sum total of utilities.

0 Problems:-

I. Comparative measures of the value things have for
different people cannot be calculated.
E.g.:- u cannot know how much pain or benefit a person
experience for your act.
II. Some benefits & costs are impossible to be measured.
E.g.:- worth of human life
III. Potential benefit & cost of an action cannot always be
reliably predicted, so they are not adequately
measurable.