Normative Ethical

Theories
-William H Shaw
 1. Theory of Egoism

Ethical egoism was introduced by the philosopher Henry Sidgwick in his

book The Methods of Ethics, written in 1874.
Forms Ethical egoism

• An individual ethical egoist would hold that all people

should do whatever benefits "my" (the individual) self-
interest.
• A personal ethical egoist would hold that he or she
should act in his or her self-interest, but would make
no claims about what anyone else ought to do.
• A universal ethical egoist would argue that everyone
should act in ways that are in their self-interest.
 Proponents of the theory

• Humans are by nature selfish creatures’.

• Human beings are so made that the must behave selfishly.
• All actions of men are motivated by self-interest.
Criticism
• Egoism is not a moral theory at all
• It is not sound theory as it assumes all action of
men motivated by self-interest
• It ignores blatant wrong doings.
2. Utilitarianism theory
Utilitarian principle: A decision is ethical if it provides a greater net utility
than any other alternative decision. (Bentham)
– Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, described utility as the sum
of all pleasure that results from an action, minus the suffering of anyone
involved in the action. (Wikipedia)
– Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism, which states that the
consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong.
(Wikipedia)
Principles of the theory
• ‘The seeking of pleasure and avoidance of pain, that is,
happiness, is the only right and universally desirable end of
human action’ (Bentham)
• Bentham viewed the interest of the community as simply
the sum of the interests of its members.
• We can somehow measure and add the quantities of
benefits generated by an action, deduct from it the
measured quantities of harm, that act produced and
determine which action produces the greatest total
benefits or the lowest total cost.
 Contrasting views

“The right action for a particular occasion “An action is right if it produces the
is the one that produces more utility than most utility for all the persons
any other possible action, it does not affected by the action” (Stuart Mill)
mean that the right action is the one that
produces most utility for the person who
performs the action” (Bentham)
Inferences and implications of the theory
• ‘The greatest happiness for the greatest number’-We should include unhappiness or pain that may
encountered along with the happiness.
• One’s action will affect other people in different degrees and thus will have different impacts.
• Utilitarian assess actions with regard to their consequences, which cause different results in
diverse circumstances.
• Maximization of happiness is the objective of utilitarian's not only in the immediate situation but
in the long run as well.
• Utilitarian agree that most of the time we don’t know what would be the future consequences of
our actions.
• Utilitarianism does not expect us to give up our own pleasure while choosing among possible
actions.
Problems
• Failed to provide measurement of utility.
• Intractability to measurement that arises while dealing with
certain benefits and costs.
• Lack of predictability of benefits and costs.
• Lack of clarity in defining what constitutes ‘benefit’ and ‘cost’