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utilitarianism. Utilitarianism The Ethical Theory of “Utilitarianism” is the most
reasonable approach to morality. ... Utilitarianism of course is not perfect. ...
the lonesome stranger and utilitarianism. ... The lonesome stranger is a persuasive argument
to utilitarianism, showing problems pertaining to justice. ...
Utilitarianism. ... Consequentialism: There are two major views of how consequences
matter, Act Utilitarianism and Rule Utilitarianism. ...
Utilitarianism. ... Utilitarianism is a concept that holds an action to be held right
if it tends to promote happiness for the greatest number of people. ...
Utilitarianism. Mill’s Utilitarianism brings an extended concept of Bentham’s
philosophy and a response to Kant’s deontological philosophy. ...
Submitted by tpl5yc on February 19, 2006
Category: History Other
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Utilitarianism
In Love and Responsibility Karol Wojtyla provides a detailed critique of John Stuart Mill’s ethic of Utilitarianism. Wojtyla makes three main points in his critique. First, he states the principle of utility, or the great happiness principle, and then discusses why pleasure should not be the sole good for ones activity. Second, Wojtyla makes a reference to the moral imperative of Immanuel Kant. He compares the greatest happiness principle to this ethic and states that it is unavoidable for people to not use others to achieve the greatest happiness for themselves. Third, he discusses the presence of egoism in the greatest happiness principle and its inability to conform to the Christian ethic, which Mill stated that Utilitarianism was all about. In response to this, Mill makes his arguments supporting his ethic of Utilitarianism and why people should follow his principle of utility.
Wojtyla’s first critique of Utilitarianism is in reference to Mill’s greatest happiness principle. According to Utilitarianism, to live happily is to live pleasurably, and one must attain the maximization of pleasure with minimal pain. Utilitarians believe this to be their primary rule of human morality and that every individual in the society should follow this rule. Wojtyla agrees that at first glance this principle has many attractions, but he states that a much closer glance must be taken to encounter the weaknesses behind this principle. The real mistake, according to Wojtyla, is the "recognition of pleasure in itself as the sole or at any rate the greatest good, to which everything else in the activity of an individual or a society should be subordinated" (Wojtyla 36). One of his main points is that pleasure should not be the sole aim for a man nor the proper aim of a man’s activity because pleasure is incidental - happening in association with something that is more important. He continues to say that one may or may not want to perform an action that...
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