utilitarianism Essays (505 words) - Utilitarianism,

Utilitarianism is a combination of consequentialism and ethical hedonism. It states that an action is good or bad on the basis of its consequences. It also states that the only thing intrinsically good is happiness and the only thing intrinsically bad is unhappiness. Therefore, an action is good if it brings about a net balance of happiness which a rational human being would be satisfied and an action is bad if it brings about a net balance of unhappiness. A utilitarian might approach; for example, the support of euthanasia could come from sever different views. On one hand, pain minimizes happiness and is therefore not good. Euthanasia is a way to terminate pain especially in situations where it is terminal. In this sense euthanasia would be supported because it eliminates unnecessary pain which causes unhappiness. Many use this argument when referring to the idea of a person?s well-being. There are objections made on utilitarianism grounds. One objection is the slippery slope argument. This states that while euthanasia may be good for a terminally ill person, it may have may have for reaching consequences which are bad. Possible consequences could include: a lack of respect for human life and doctors and nurses committing involuntary euthanasia. The idea that people are autonomous and have control over their life and death is another way utilitarian?s support euthanasia. If a person chooses to die and this will lead to happiness than euthanasia is the right action. Utilitarianism requires the maximization of overall happiness maximization refers to the theory of right and indicates that the more happiness is the better. The ?overall? indicates that the total happiness is what is relevant. The effects of an action on the happiness of all people have to be taken into consideration (pg.13). An example of maximum happiness, ?We are looking in the overall happiness, there are three people who decide to go out and their choices were a baseball game, going to the beach and going to a theater to watch a movie. Going to watch the baseball game would interest one and his happiness will be satisfied with his choice but the other two wouldn?t be satisfied. In this case we are looking for maximized happiness for all, and by asking each one of these three people what they would prefer to do, they would not like any of these choices and what they would finally agree on so we get the maximum overall satisfaction for the three. According to John Stuart Mill he developed the theory and the basic principle of utilitarianism which is: actions are right to the degree that they tend to promote the greatest good for the greatest number. What is unclear is what constitutes ?the greatest good?. For Bentham, it was simply ?the tendency to augment or diminish happiness or pleasure, ?without distinctions to be made between pleasures or persons. All measures are strictly quantitative. For Mill, not all pleasure is equal. He defined ?the good? in terms of well-being