DCU Assignment Submission

Declaration of Academic Integrity

Name Ciara Barry

Student ID number 19442026

Programme Bachelor of Religious Education and Music (BRM1)

Module Code TP110

Assignment Title Examine and explain the ethical theory of

Utilitarianism. Engage with one current moral issue
from the perspective of Utilitarianism.

Submission Date 03/03/2020

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Name:_Ciara Barry____ Date:__03/03/2020__

Explain and examine the ethical theory of Utilitarianism. Engage with one
current moral issue from the perspective of Utilitarianism.

In this essay the ethical theory of Utilitarianism will be examined and one current moral issue
will be engaged with from the perspective of Utilitarianism. Firstly, according to the
University of Texas at Austin​; “Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from
wrong by determining outcomes. It is a form of consequentialism.”1 In regards to this
information, it simply means that whatever action would ensue the most happiness for the
most amount of people is the most ethical action to take, even if it means that an individual
must be sacrificed for the happiness of the others.

In relation to this point, the ​Encyclopedia of Britannica s​tates that it is “an effort to provide
an answer to the practical question “what ought a man to do?” It’s answer is that he ought to
act as so as to produce the best consequences possible.”2 The theory of Utilitarianism is a
form of consequentialism which, according to the ​Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,​ “is
simply the view that normative properties depend only on consequences”3 I interpret this to
mean that when making decisions in terms of morality, it is essential to look to the future
before determining your choice, to see what outcome would be the most beneficial. This links
in with the Utilitarianism view that the outcome that benefits the most amount of people is
the action that should be taken by the person that is posed with the circumstance in question.

Under the theory of Utilitarianism, there are two subdivisions. Act Utilitarianism and Rule
Utilitarianism. Both of these agree on the basic theory that the best possible outcome should
be generated, however, they differ in agreement on how abouts to get to this final result. Act
utilitarians stand by the principle of utility, which should be applied individually to each
situation and should create the most amount of happiness than any other option available.
Whereas in Rule Utilitarianism, there are two elements to the view on this theory. These two
parts to Rule Utilitarianism are as follows, according to the ​Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy ​; “ a) a specific action is morally justified if it conforms to a justified moral rule;
and b) a moral rule is justified if its inclusion into our moral code would create more utility
than other possible rules. ”4 From this aspect, it is suggested that it is the individual actions
that must be judged in accordance with general, pre-existing moral codes, and we should

1
​Ethics Unwrapped- McCombs School of Business- The University of Texas at Austin, 2020,
Utilitarianism ​https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/utilitarianism
2
Utilitarianism from Encyclopedia Britannica, The nature of Utilitarianism
https://www.britannica.com/topic/utilitarianism-philosophy
3
​Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016, Consequentialism
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consequentialism/
4
​Stephen Nathanson, Northern University, USA, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
https://www.iep.utm.edu/util-a-r/
judge the moral rules and codes by the amount of happiness it produces than other possible
rules and codes.

An example of a situation where the theory could be applied from a utilitarian perspective
that I found to be quite interesting was the circumstance that a surgeon has five patients on a
waiting list, each looking for transplants. One needs a heart transplant, one needs a lung
transplant, one needs a liver transplant and the other two both need a kidney transplant. The
doctor is certain that each of these patients will die before their names come up on the
transplant list, and he just so happens to have a neighbour who has no family, not even a very
nice guy and doesn't contribute much to society. By some miracle he also is a match for all of
the five transplants. In this situation an Act Utilitarian would kill the neighbour, harvest his
organs and give them to the five patients because it would mean the greatest outcome for the
greatest amount of people, however from the perspective of the Rule Utilitarian, this would
not be the approach taken as it is wrong and not morally correct to kill an innocent individual
and would only maximise the utility for the short term rather than for the majority of the time.

The founders of the theory of Utilitarianism were John Stuart Mill and Jeremey Bentham,
shared the belief that the theory was based on what action would result in the most
well-being, or happiness for the greatest amount of people. According to ​Encyclopedia
Britannica,​ Mill was an “English philosopher, economist, and exponent of Utilitarianism.”5
He was born on the 20th of May 1806 in London, England. During the 19th century he was
widely known as a publicist and is one of the most prominent ethical theorists to date. He
died on the 8th of May 1873 in Avignon, in the South of France. During the period between,
and including, May 1820 to July 1821, Mill was staying in France with Sir Samuel Bentham
and his family, who was the brother of Jeremey Bentham, soon after developing connections
and friends in the Utilitarian society . Around 1849 and 1852 he campaigned for the creation
of peasant proprietorships to calm the distress and lack of order present in Ireland.

According to ​Encyclopedia Britannica​, Jeremey Betham was an “English philosopher,

economist, and theoretical jurist, the earliest and chief expounder of Utilitarianism.”6 He was
born on the 15th of February 1748 in London, England. Betham had a significant role,
particularly in the late 18th century, for being one of the fundamental founders of current
Utilitarianism and defending psychological and ethical gratification. He died on the 6th of
June 1832 in London, England. He published ​An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and
Legislation i​ n 1789 in which he had been engaged with for many years. It was in this book he
introduced the principle of utility, which is stated in the ​Encyclopedia Britannica a​ s “that
property in any object whereby it tends to produce pleasure, good or happiness, or to prevent
the happening of mischief, pain evil or unhappiness to the party whose interest is

5
​Encyclopedia Britannica, John Stuart Mill biography, by Richard Paul Anschutz
https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Stuart-Mill
6
​Encyclopedia Britannica, Jeremey Bentham biography, by Brian Duignan and John P.
Plamenatz, February 11 2020, ​https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremy-Bentham
considered.”7 He also explained in this book that humankind was ruled by two principal
motives, and they are pain and pleasure. It has been stated that these two masters of mankind;
pain and pleasure, motivate us and they should be central to what motivates us.

The moral issue that I have chosen to draw attention to in my essay is the issue of the use of
marijuana for medicinal purposes. There are pros and cons to the use of medicinal marijuana,
but does this excuse the fact that it is still a drug used by common criminals, unlawful people
who throw away throw away their lives to get their next high. Even though people who use
this may not have an evil mindset, their actions of utilising this drug come across as
something that would be looked down upon by society, many people have different excuses
for using the drug whether it be for something that would make us think twice about what the
user might be going through or maybe even question the reason they have fallen into such
habits to begin with. For example, it could be a result of falling in with the wrong crowd from
a young age, perhaps during their time in secondary school or college which led to them
falling down a dark and vast hole of addiction and drug usage.

There are many different slang terms used to refer to the drug most commonly known as
marijuana. Some of these terms include: bhang, cannabis and hemp. The more common
phrases that you are likely to hear floating about on the streets are majorly: weed, ganja,
maryjane and joints. Other terms to be aware of in terms of marijuana are: herb, doobie,
reefer and roach among others. Each of these phrases, although sounding ridiculous and
totally unrelated are all used to describe the same green, grassy,and grotesque drug that
increases the dopamine levels that have people hooked.

In Canada, the president has recently legalised the usage of recreational marijuana as a means
of being able to control the usage of the drug which makes it the second country to leagalise
it for enjoyment purposes, however, medical marijuana has been legalised since the year
2001. Other countries that and places that have legalised the usage of the drug include
Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Argentina, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay,
Cambodia, Laos, North Korea, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland,
Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Russia, Ukraine and last but not least Australia. The
legalisation of this drug whether it be for pleasure or medical purposes or even as a means of
the government as a way of reducing uncontrolled drug trafficking has been growing
increasingly popular as the years roll on, and many questions have been raised as whether to
allow more access to the drug in Ireland as currently the use of even medical marijuana is
very limited. In ​The Irish Times​ it is stated that “​After its findings were published in February
2017, the Minister announced he would implement the HPRA recommendation that
cannabis-based products be made available to some patients with multiple sclerosis and

7
​Encyclopedia Britannica, Jeremey Bentham biography, by Brian Duignan and John P.
Plamenatz, February 11 2020, ​https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremy-Bentham
epilepsy, and those suffering nausea in chemotherapy.”8 This shows that the government of
Ireland is open to the idea of using medical marijuana in special cases of patients with certain
diseases.
But the moral question is what is the right thing to do when it comes to this widely known
drug. Does the fact that it is used for medical purposes, and works, take away from the fact
that what they are putting into their bodies is a substance that could cause more damage than
does good. Furthermore, the positive and negative effects of using this drug will be analysed
from a Utilitarian perspective to see, what the moral thing to do about the use of marijuana,
and medical marijuana alike, and to see if it is truly producing more pleasure than pain, in the
short and long term.

Some of the positive effects that marijuana can cause that i have found include the decrease
in the feeling of nausea as a result of chemotherapy in cancer patients and almost completely
eradicates vomiting altogether. In the case of multiple sclerosis and paralysis it subdues the
muscle spasms that are associated with each of these cases. It also can help with treating the
loss of appetite when it comes to conditions such as HIV, AIDS and specific types of cancers.
It also soothes chronic pain, for example neuropathic pain. It is also said to be a safer drug
than others for example opioids which are highly addictive and are not recommended for
treating chronic pain for the long term. Marijuana also is now not only limited to being
smoked, it is available in the form of edibles and oils such as cannabidiol (CBD) oil, and
other non smoking methods that have been made available. In fact, some of the individual
components that make up marijuana have been found to be beneficial when separated, for
example CBD, which has allowed for further advancement in medicine, without getting the
“high” that comes from the component known as THC. Finally, cannabis has actually been
used for centuries as a natural agent in medicine with good outcomes.

However enticing the beneficial side may seem, there are also negative effects of medicinal
marijuana and for every person who promotes the legalisation of this drug, there is another
who demotes its use for moral, ethical or personal principles. Firstly, continuous use of
marijuana, in actual fact can cause short term memory and can cause damage to cognitive
capability. It can also cause severe harm to the tissue in the lungs when smoked and also
consists of cancer inducing particles. The usage of marijuana can lead to serious addiction
and also carries with it the risk of abusing and overusing the drug. It is also linked to a fair
number of car crashes caused as the main effect as the reason why the accident happened in
the first place. According to ​Verywell Health ​“​Marijuana is illegal under federal law. It is
classified as Schedule I drug in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), alongside heroin. This
classification says that the substances have no currently accepted medicinal value.”9

8
​https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/medicinal-cannabis-where-does-ireland-stand-1.3490547
The Irish Times, Kevin O’Sullivan, Thursday May 10 2018.
9

https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-medical-marijuana-1132484
Verywellhealth, Pros and Cons of Medical Marijuana
So to approach this with the perspective of an act utilitarian i would say that this drug should
in fact be legalised in Ireland for the benefit of patients who desperately need relief from the
spasticity of their muscles or if their pain is chronic as this solution would bring the greatest
amount of happiness to the greatest amount of people and increase pleasure and significantly
reduce their pain levels, especially those who are really suffering. However from a rule
utilitarian perspective i would say that it would be the incorrect decision to legalise medical
marijuana in Ireland as in the long term it could cause more ultimate pain than pleasure to
the situation and not only this but it is still seen as a criminal offence to use drugs, especially
those classified at the same level as heroin. And therefore it would be morally wrong to
legalise something that could in the long term cause more harm than good.

Bibliography
● Ethics Unwrapped- McCombs School of Business- The University of Texas at Austin,
2020, Utilitarianism ​https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/utilitarianism
● Utilitarianism from Encyclopedia Britannica, The nature of Utilitarianism
https://www.britannica.com/topic/utilitarianism-philosophy
● Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016,
Consequentialism​https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consequentialism/
● Stephen Nathanson, Northern University, USA, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
https://www.iep.utm.edu/util-a-r/
● Encyclopedia Britannica, John Stuart Mill biography, by Richard Paul Anschutz
https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Stuart-Mill
● ​Encyclopedia Britannica, Jeremey Bentham biography, by Brian Duignan and John
P. Plamenatz, February 11 2020,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremy-Bentham
● https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/medicinal-cannabis-where-does-ireland-stand-1.3490
547​ The Irish Times, Kevin O’Sullivan, Thursday May 10 2018.
● https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-medical-marijuana-1
132484​Verywellhealth, Pros and Cons of Medical Marijuana