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Understanding Utilitarianism: Definition & Examples

This document discusses the utilitarian approach to ethics. [1] The utilitarian approach defines the right action as that which produces the greatest balance of benefits over harms for all affected. [2] Examples of utilitarian reasoning include choosing to build a flyover instead of a highway if it benefits more people, and sacrificing one life to save two lives. [3] Considerations in utilitarian thinking include identifying alternative actions, determining all costs and benefits, and choosing the option with the greatest overall benefit. However, utilitarianism faces problems in accurately measuring and comparing costs and benefits across individuals and predicting the impacts of actions.

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557 views6 pages

Understanding Utilitarianism: Definition & Examples

This document discusses the utilitarian approach to ethics. [1] The utilitarian approach defines the right action as that which produces the greatest balance of benefits over harms for all affected. [2] Examples of utilitarian reasoning include choosing to build a flyover instead of a highway if it benefits more people, and sacrificing one life to save two lives. [3] Considerations in utilitarian thinking include identifying alternative actions, determining all costs and benefits, and choosing the option with the greatest overall benefit. However, utilitarianism faces problems in accurately measuring and comparing costs and benefits across individuals and predicting the impacts of actions.

Uploaded by

boraabhishek
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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.

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