Utilitarianism Wikipedia. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory which states that the best action is the one that maximizes utility. Utility is defined in various ways, usually in terms of the well being of sentient entities. Sony Cd Architect 5 2 Crack Heads. 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. Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism, which states that the consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong. Unlike other forms of consequentialism, such as egoism, utilitarianism considers the interests of all beings equally. Proponents of utilitarianism have disagreed on a number of points, such as whether actions should be chosen based on their likely results act utilitarianism or whether agents should conform to rules that maximize utility rule utilitarianism. There is also disagreement as to whether total total utilitarianism or average average utilitarianism utility should be maximized. Though the seeds of the theory can be found in the hedonists Aristippus and Epicurus, who viewed happiness as the only good, the tradition of utilitarianism properly began with Bentham, and has included John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick, R. Biocentrism is a mystical idea that the universe is created by the act of conscious observation. This idea is based on a misrepresentation of several. James W. Rachels May 30, 1941 September 5, 2003 was an American philosopher who specialized in ethics and animal rights. TEXTBOOK COLLATERAL DAMAGE THE JOHN LIST STORY PDF EBOOKS how to coupon couponing 101 surveying and levelling for students televizier op voorblad nicole kidman teaching. The goD of the JUDEO RAmen CHRISTIANS is JESUS PINDAR the DRAGON LORD. Qhcme/526x297-FtF.jpg' alt='Problems From Philosophy James Rachels Pdf' title='Problems From Philosophy James Rachels Pdf' />Problems From Philosophy James Rachels Pdf EditorM. Hare, David Braybrooke, and Peter Singer. It has been applied to social welfare economics, the crisis of global poverty, the ethics of raising animals for food and the importance of avoiding existential risks to humanity. EtymologyeditBenthamism, the utilitarian philosophy founded by Jeremy Bentham, was substantially modified by his successor John Stuart Mill, who popularized the word Utilitarianism. In 1. Mill acknowledged in a footnote that, though believing himself to be the first person who brought the word utilitarian into use, he did not invent it. Rather, he adopted it from a passing expression in John Galts 1. Problems From Philosophy James Rachels Pdf CreatorAnnals of the Parish. Mill seems to have been unaware that Bentham had used the term utilitarian in his 1. George Wilson and his 1. Dumont. 1Historical backgroundeditChinese philosophyeditIn Chinese philosophy the Mohists and their successors the Chinese Legalistscitation needed might be considered utilitarians, or at least the earliest form of consequentialism. Of particular concern for them, the fourth century witnessed the emergence of discussions polarizing the concepts of self and private, commonly used in conjunction with profit and associated with fragmentation, division, partiality, and one sidelines, with that of the state and public, represented by the duke and referring to what is official or royal, that is, the ruler himself, associated with unity, wholeness, objectivity, and universality. The later denotes the universal Way. However, the Mohists did not focus on emotional happiness, but promoted objective public goods material wealth, a large population or family, and social order. On the other hand, the Legalist Han Fei is motivated almost totally from the rulers point of view. Western philosophyeditThe importance of happiness as an end for humans has long been recognized. Forms of hedonism were put forward by Aristippus and Epicurus Aristotle argued that eudaimonia is the highest human good and Augustine wrote that all men agree in desiring the last end, which is happiness. Happiness was also explored in depth by Aquinas. Different varieties of consequentialism also existed in the ancient and medieval world, like the state consequentialism of Mohism or the political philosophy of Niccol Machiavelli. Mohist consequentialism advocated communitarian moral goods including political stability, population growth, and wealth, but did not support the utilitarian notion of maximizing individual happiness. Machiavelli was also an exponent of consequentialism. He believed that the actions of a state, however cruel or ruthless they may be, must contribute towards the common good of a society. Utilitarianism as a distinct ethical position only emerged in the eighteenth century. Although utilitarianism is usually thought to start with Jeremy Bentham, there were earlier writers who presented theories that were strikingly similar. In An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, David Hume writes 1. In all determinations of morality, this circumstance of public utility is ever principally in view and wherever disputes arise, either in philosophy or common life, concerning the bounds of duty, the question cannot, by any means, be decided with greater certainty, than by ascertaining, on any side, the true interests of mankind. If any false opinion, embraced from appearances, has been found to prevail as soon as farther experience and sounder reasoning have given us juster notions of human affairs, we retract our first sentiment, and adjust anew the boundaries of moral good and evil. Hume studied the works of, and corresponded with, Francis Hutcheson, and it was he who first introduced a key utilitarian phrase. In An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue 1. Hutcheson says1. In the same way, moral evil, or vice, is proportionate to the number of people made to suffer. The best action is the one that procures the greatest happiness of the greatest numbersand the worst is the one that causes the most misery. In the first three editions of the book, Hutcheson included various mathematical algorithms. Morality of any Actions. In this, he pre figured the hedonic calculus of Bentham. Some claim that John Gay developed the first systematic theory of utilitarian ethics. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory which states that the best action is the one that maximizes utility. Utility is defined in various ways, usually in terms of the. Rachels p. 1 of 8 The Ethics of Virtue By James Rachels 1 This reading is a chapter from Rachels ethics textbook where he describe virtue ethics, the moral theory. Problems From Philosophy James Rachels Pdf' title='Problems From Philosophy James Rachels Pdf' />In Concerning the Fundamental Principle of Virtue or Morality 1. Gay argues that 1. To ask why I pursue happiness, will admit of no other answer than an explanation of the terms. This pursuit of happiness is given a theological basis 1. Now it is evident from the nature of God, viz. God is the immediate criterion of Virtue, and the happiness of mankind the criterion of the wilt of God and therefore the happiness of mankind may be said to be the criterion of virtue, but once removedand I am to do whatever lies in my power towards promoting the happiness of mankind. Gays theological utilitarianism was developed and popularized by William Paley. It has been claimed that Paley was not a very original thinker and that the philosophical part of his treatise on ethics is an assemblage of ideas developed by others and is presented to be learned by students rather than debated by colleagues. Nevertheless, his book The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy 1. Cambridge1. 8 and Smith says that Paleys writings were once as well known in American colleges as were the readers and spellers of William Mc. Guffey and Noah Webster in the elementary schools. Although now largely missing from the philosophical canon, Schneewind writes that utilitarianism first became widely known in England through the work of William Paley. The now forgotten significance of Paley can be judged from the title of Thomas Rawson Birkss 1. Modern Utilitarianism or the Systems of Paley, Bentham and Mill Examined and Compared. Apart from restating that happiness as an end is grounded in the nature of God, Paley also discusses the place of rules. He writes 2. 1. Whatever is expedient, is right. It is the utility of any moral rule alone, which constitutes the obligation of it. But to all this there seems a plain objection, viz.