Critique of Benthams Quantitative Utilitarianism

Over time, the actions of mankind have been the victim of two vague labels, right and wrong. The criteria for these labels are not clearly defined, but they still seem to be the standard by which the actions of man are judged. There are some people that abide by a deontological view when it comes to judging the nature of actions; the deontological view holds that it is a persons intention that makes an action right or wrong. On the other hand there is the teleological view which holds that it is the result of an action is what makes that act right or wrong. In this essay I will be dealing with utilitarianism, a philosophical principle that holds a teleological view when it comes the nature of actions. To solely discuss utilitarianism is†¦show more content†¦The interest of the community is said to be a sum of the total interests of its several members. It is never specified what how exactly this total is acquired or even if the members of the community would agree on whateve r is considered the communitys interest. If the members would agree then that means that everyone in the community had the same interest to begin with. If the members would not agree, then how can you go about adding up their conflicting interests? These interests, when attempting to get a total seem like they would cancel each other out which wouldnt make for much of sum total. Things of this nature (individual interests) are so relative that it would be impossible as well as pointless to even try to place any kind of concrete value, which brings up another point. What kind of value are these individual and community interests supposed to have? In order to add things up they must have some sort of value. Because of Benthams failure to offer some sort of method for combining individuals interests and since he failed to offer some sort of concrete value for these abstract things, his perspective on the interest of the community remains unclear to me. The second issue that I am going to take up lies in Benthams method of calculating the general tendency of an act that affects a communitys interest. For starters, the process itself is tooShow MoreRelated Critique Of Benthams Quantitative Utilitarianism Essay1764 Words   |  8 Pageswrong. In this essay I will be dealing with utilitarianism, a philosophical principle that holds a teleological view when it comes the nature of actions. To solely discuss utilitarianism is much too broad of topic and must be broken down, so I will discuss specifically quantitative utilitarianism as presented by Jeremy Bentham. In this essay I will present the argument of Bentham supporting his respective form of utilitarianism and I will give my critique of this argument along the way. BeforeRead More Immanuel Kants Ethics Of Pure Duty and John Stuart Mills Utilitarian Ethics Of Justice2753 Words   |  12 PagesMetaphysics of Morals and John Stuart Mills Utilitarianism Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill are philosophers who addressed the issues of morality in terms of how moral traditions are formed. Immanuel Kant has presented one viewpoint in The Grounding For The Metaphysics of Morals that is founded on his belief that the worth of man is inherent in his ability to reason. John Stuart Mill holds another opinion as presented in the book, Utilitarianism that is seemingly in contention with the thoughtsRead MoreVictorian Literature Essay2858 Words   |  12 PagesVictorian era was Utilitarianism. â€Å"The greatest good for the greatest number† was Jeremy Bentham, the eighteenth century philosopher’s theory, centred on the belief that logic and reason should be applied to life for the welfare of the majority of Victorian society. However, what Bentham failed to notice, was that this factual and quantitative ideology, forced society to make actions without considering their own individual happiness thus leading to Dickens critique of utilitarianism. The transitionRead MoreEthics and Social Responsibility Essay9502 Words   |  39 PagesMiami football players. This paper will examine the various legal and ethical implications involved in this case, including an analysis of the university’s social responsibility, and an overview of the scandal in terms of three ethical theories: utilitarianism, Kant’s categorical imperative, and ethical relativism. Table of Contents I. Introduction (Stephanie) A. Purposes of Paper * Analytical paper - â€Å"3 value† analysis of law, ethics, and social responsibility * Current, controversial