Ethics 10
Ethics 10
Ethics 10
1
The Philosophy of Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism
This philosophy is also known as Consequentialism that says the rightness or wrongness of
an object depends on the effect of the consequence regardless of the method it utilized. There are
two kinds of utilitarianism and they are Act utilitarian and Rule utilitarian, the first believed about
the goodness or badness of a particular act. An example is the assassination of former Indian
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984 that was an act of murder by the civilized people but to the
perpetuators it was an act beneficial to the maligned Indian minority. Rule utilitarian means the
goodness or evilness of an act itself. Say abortion may be an evil act but Western civilization view
it as a means to combat population explosion. Morality is defined, simply as increasing good and
decreasing evil by eliminating traditions, taboos or archaic beliefs that obstruct human
development. These age-old beliefs put man in a “primitive” way of life that denied their right to
free-will and are a bane to human behavior. The proponents of this theory were Jeremy Bentham
and John Stuart Mill wherein the first thought about this idea and later shared to his pupil which
the latter propagated for humanity albeit with his own interpretation. Despite being thinkers of
the 18th Century their ideas were utilized by the present generation but were doubted for its
absurdities. That even today the ideas of these scholars were unsure as to they tend to Act
Utilitarian or Rule Utilitarian. Their writings are ambiguous that they have no idea what utilitarian
act they subscribe.
The Philosophies of Bentham and Mill
Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832) proposed utilitarianism in this premises: 1) Human life is
greatly-affected by pleasure and pain; 2) consequences of actions are caused by pleasure and pain;
3) the idea of anything pleasurable is good and anything painful is evil is absolute; and 4) Pleasure
Course Module
and pain can be quantified. To sum it up, man’s happiness is quantified by either pleasure and pain
and nothing else. They can be measured according to the following criteria such as: intensity,
duration, certainty and nearness.
John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873) for his part clarified his professors’ stand by making his own
counterpoint: 1) the quality of happiness is more important than its quantity; 2) the quality of
happiness cannot be measured for these things are felt and no amount of calculation can quantify
it; 3) Mill believed in the idea of the “General Happiness of the People” that happiness can be felt
by everyone, in short common happiness.
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1) Egalitarianism - Egalitarianism is a trend of thought in political philosophy. It favors
equality to everyone where people are treated the same as equals. Justice is given to
everyone regardless of race color or creed.
2) Communism - is simply based class dictatorship of the proletariat (the ruling party).
This type of governance was thought of by Karl Marx, where a society is dominated by
one class over the entire state. Socialism is the reciprocal of capitalism, where state
control of the economy is the nation’s priority.
3) Socialism - A political ideology that advocates for an equal redistribution of wealth and
power in society through a democratic ownership and distribution of society’s means of
production (or means of making money).
Time Magazine, described millennials as people born from 1980 to 2000. This generation
comprise the largest age group in America and Asia. Their age group is called the “yuppie” age
(from the acronym YUP or Young Urban Professionals). In the Philippines, they are described as
the “selfie” generation and followers of social media no thanks to modern communication gadgets
such as mobile phones, laptops and tablets that seems they can never do without. A Filinnial
(short for Filipino millennials) are usually spendthrifts due to their propensity to spend money for
luxury goods which left their bank accounts “broke.” Another trait that unified most of them is
their narcissistic attitude, making them known as the “Me, Me, Me Generation.” They are so
conscious of what and how they look that selfies are a common thing. It must be noted though that
there are also good attitudes which millennials possess among them are their politically and social
astuteness. The social media opened their eyes that traditional media such as TV, movies, radio
and print are no longer the source of information. Compared to other generations, millennials
have their say about issues and are more involved with politics and are not squeamish about
revealing their opinions.
The Role of Religion in Ethics
Even in the current situation, many are still arguing about the role of religion in Ethics. Will
this age-old institution be the primary agent for the right ethics for they propagate the Word of
God? Most religions have an ethical component because ethics is yardstick for right conduct and
good life. A necessary component of making this a guide to temporal happiness. Is this the most
reliable conception of analyzing what is right from what is wrong? The central theme of ethics is
"the good life", the very reason we aspire for in this temporal world we live in that ancient Greeks
regarded as eudaimonia or happiness. The ancient Greeks believed happiness was brought about
by living one’s life in accordance with virtue – positive traits of character. Virtue is the source of
good character, that us integrated by good personal habits such as courage and temperance, but
also friendship and justice and intellectual virtue.
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4. Applying Utilitarianism in Business;
https://www.academicwritersbureau.com/samples/219-applying-utilitarianism-in-
business; December 1, 2016
5. Social Justice; https://www.pachamama.org/social-justice/what-is-social-justice
6. Justice and Fairness; https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-
making/justice-and-fairness/; August 1, 2014
7. Definition of Justice; https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice
8. Egalitarianism; https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/egalitarianism/; April 24, 2013
9. Social Justice: Code for Communism; https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-communist-
government-1; August 4, 2016
10. What is Socialism Really? https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/what-is-socialism-
definition/
11. What is Pluralism; http://pluralism.org/what-is-pluralism/; 2006
12. What is Fundamentalism; https://www.gotquestions.org/fundamentalism.html
13. Modes of Religious Pluralism under Conditions of Globalization;
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-
sciences/resources/periodicals/diversities/past-issues/vol-1-no-1-1999/modes-of-
religious-pluralism-under-conditions-of-globalisation/#topPage; 1999
14. Millennials in the Philippines; http://primer.com.ph/blog/2016/06/27/millennials-
in-the-philippines-who-are-they-and-what-do-they-do/
15. Can we be ethical without being religious; http://www.ethicssage.com/2012/09/the-
role-of-ethics-in-religion.html; Sept. 4, 2012
16.