...Are Individual Rights More Important Than Human Life? By Talha Sajjad English 161: Academic II Dr. William Ford University of Illinois at Chicago May 3rd, 2010 There are protests and demonstrations held every day, yet somehow abortion is still legal in the United States. In the decision of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, it was ruled that women have the right, given to them by the Constitution, to have an abortion in the early stages of pregnancy (Infoplease). Hundreds of protesters gather outside clinics that offer abortions and try to present their position on the issue, but it seems as though their cries and complains are never heard. The main question that we must decide on is this: is it just to take away human life before it even has the chance to be lived? Several countries around the world have outlawed the practice of abortion. When deciding the abortion issue, its women’s rights as citizens of the United States versus the religious beliefs of a majority of citizens. What is more important, the sanctity of life or allowing murder on the basis of one’s right to choose? Given the abortion procedure allows women sexual and reproductive freedom, it has unconsciously led to a trend where abortion is being used as a method of contraception. In the United States, 49% of the pregnancies are unintended and American women used abortion as a tool to terminate almost half of these pregnancies (Infoplease). Abortion was not meant to be used in accidental...
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...having to make ethical decisions it’s very important to obtain all the facts before making the decision. Sometimes it might take some investigating to get all the facts, so it could take a few days to get all the information together that is needed to make an ethical decision. When dealing with ethical decision there are several options and solution to help. The first one is the front page of the newspaper test and this is where I would ask myself if I felt comfortable being on the front page of the newspaper. The second one is the End/Means test and this means does the overall good justify cutting corners to get there. The third one is The Golden Rule and this says to treat others the way you want to be treated. The fourth one is utilitarianism and this means do the benefits of the action outweigh the costs/harm to all the stakeholders involved. The fifth one is Professional Standards or Codes of Conduct and this means the company has a handbook of codes that every employee is aware of and breaking the codes leads to termination. There are...
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...Utilitarianism Essay Introduction Donna is a devoted wife and mother, whose main focus in life is taking care of her family. She has been married to the love of her life for ten years, and they have an eight year old daughter. One night, she arrived home after a book club meeting to find her house in flames. She called 911, and then proceeded to enter the house. She called out to her husband and her daughter, but received no response. Due to the late hour, she assumed both of them would have been sleeping. The house is filling with smoke, and she has to decide which one she will try to save. Does she go to her bedroom and try to save her husband, or does she go to her daughter’s bedroom? Utilitarianism If Donna wants to make the decision that would be in everyone’s best interest, she would make the decision using the theory of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the moral theory that is based on the results of decisions to choose what would cause the most pleasure or the least amount of pain. These decisions should cause the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people. An individual’s happiness is no more important that the happiness of someone else and the happiness of the group is most important. If the result of the decision causes more happiness or less pain, then it was a good moral decision (Mill, 2004). According to Scarre, Mill’s believed, “the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness...
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...Legalizing Marijuana: The ethical issue and problem Dorcas Rivera SOC 120 Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility Instructor: Robert Gala September 23, 2013 Legalizing Marijuana: The ethical issue and problem Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug. Therefore, legalizing marijuana, not only now, but for many years, has been the topic on rather or not it should be legalized. Even though marijuana has been legalized for medical use in 18 U.S. states, this has caused big controversy in our country and the ethical issue and problems it presents. In this article I will explain; what is marijuana, the risk of marijuana use, the effects of marijuana (in the brain and body), and the pros and cons of legalizing it. I will also explain how one of the classical theories, utilitarianism, would resolve the problem. On the other hand, I will contrast the response with the perspective brought to the issue by, ethical egoism. Lastly, will ended off choosing which of the two are closer to my view. Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant. You may hear marijuana called by street names such as pot, herb, weed, grass, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, or chronic. All forms of marijuana are mind-altering. In other words, they change how the brain works. They all contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active chemical in marijuana. They also contain more than 400 other chemicals. Marijuana's effects on...
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...Examine the features of Utilitarianism which make it appealing to many. One feature of utilitarianism which makes it attractive to many is the initial appearance of rationality behind each argument. It seems to be similar to an ordinary humans’ way of making decisions. For each alternative course of action, we measure the benefits of pursuing it), we look at the costs and we weigh the benefits against the costs. Then, following this our choice is made usually based upon which factor has the most benefits compared to drawbacks. It seems the simplest and most rational way of making quick decisions, and is relatively easy to do. This essentially highlights how practical Utilitarianism appears to be. Roughly speaking, it assesses the question of what to do in terms of what we want to achieve and chooses the way in which it would be best achieved. Utilitarianism takes no past or future preference into consideration, and deals solely on an individual level. Another aspect of the ‘practicality’ of utilitarianism is the fact that in assessing the rightness and wrongness of actions, we are meant to look only at their consequences and not try to get into the mind of the agent to assess her motives. Utilitarianism also has the merit of being quite simple and easy to understand, at least at a theoretical level. Instead of recognising a wide range of different goals, which need to be weighed against one another, which often takes a long period of time, a single goal is taken as...
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...something wrong with buying stock. I will use utilitarianism approach to justify buying stocks. When I was new to the business I always used to think that there are a lot of unethical dealings which are going on in our society, but later I realized that those aren’t unethical instead it’s a matter of personal choice in deciding what’s right and what’s wrong. In our case, the merger of the companies will inevitably happen and investing in stock will not harm both companies. According to Utilitarianism, we should choose the option that “maximizes utility,” i.e. that action or policy that produces the largest amount of good. Using the Utilitarianism approach, the good will outweigh the bad consequences when not considering the legal issue. The consequences of investing in the stocks will produce a good outcome in being able to cover the expenses of my daughter’s medical treatment and will help to keep my family members from being burdened with financial debt. Furthermore, buying stocks will not harm either company. I would be more concerned with increasing the happiness of my family while not costing anyone. Looking at the consequences of not purchasing the stock, has the adverse effect of the utilitarian approach. We never know what can be the outcomes of the merger. It can lead to lowering down the pay or even laying off hundreds of employee including your own position. Overall, if we compare above pros and cons, purchasing the stock will be the best interest...
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...and teach their material to students by following what the book says. Due to the fact, that students learn exactly what is taught from the book, their teachers believe the student is capable of answering their own questions based off the book. Furthermore causing the student to score poorly in that class, due to not teaching the student personally and effective. In my point, I believe teachers need to stop relying on the students to learn by themselves using the book, and change their teaching material by personally teaching the student based on the teachers knowledge of the material. Given this argument, I will introduce a pro and con statement that will provide two different standpoints about my argument. After proving both pro and con statements, I will provide how John Stuart Mill will choose either statement by using his moral perspective theory. As a pro statement, teachers who teach their students the correct material upon their own knowledge, without consulting a book as guidance in their class, will have successful passing students. Most high school teachers who have received degrees don’t teach students upon themselves, but depend on book. Unfortunately, when a student needs help, they have to consult to the book, and rely on the practice problems the book provides as help. Consulting to the book at all times through the school year simply shows no use of having a teacher. A high school student who consults to the book at all times, will not progress the students in their...
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...present when a fraud occurs. These conditions include an incentive or pressure that provides a reason to commit fraud (personal financial problems or unrealistic performance goals), an opportunity for fraud to be perpetrated (weaknesses in the internal controls), and an attitude that enables the individual to rationalize the fraud. At the organizational level, leadership, organizational culture and management control systems form the three points of the organizational fraud triangle (Free, Stein &Macintosh). Create and describe two strategies for addressing the situation at hand. Individualism and Utilitarian An individualistic approach to ethical decision-making lies in stark contrast to two other approaches, care ethics and utilitarianism. Under this strategy people have more of an independent state of mind. Care ethics focuses on our interdependence, arguing that ethical decisions should focus on helping the most vulnerable in a group....
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...Ethics Essay ETH/316 June 30, 2014 Ethics Essay Comparing the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics is what will be discussed in this essay. Also, explaining a personal experience in how the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts as they relate to one of the three theories will be discussed. What are ethical theories? “Ethical theories deal with the question of how human beings ought to behave in relation to one another. In the broadest sense, they define what qualifies as right and wrong, as well as how to promote human flourishing (Dontigney, 2014).” The comparison between the three ethical theories are that each theory promotes the decision to choose what is right or wrong in particular situation. Whereas, the differences are the types of a situation a person is dealing with. Each of the theories describes a different situation on how one deals with their choice of right and wrong. The definitions of each ethical theory is as follows. First, virtue is a theory that it looks at ones individual character, rather than his or her actions. For example, if a student cheats on an assignment, the virtue theory looks at the students past personality traits to help determine if he or she is guilty (Hamilton, 2014). Second, deontological is a theory that looks at the consequences of one actions toward life choices and how those action relate to responsibility and obligation. For example,...
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...types of ethics. In this paper each of the following tree ethical theories utilitarianism, Virtue, and Deontological will be described relating to ethics and morality. Virtue Theory is a theory that emphasizes that role of character and virtue in moral philosophy rather than doing one’s duty or action in order to bring about good consequences and Utilitarianism is being held the views that the right actions will produce the good in a person. Deontological ethics holds acts that are morally obligatory of their consequences for human actions. My personal experience with these when I was a teenager I became rebellious and wanted to find myself when it came to religion. My parents came from two different religions. My dad is a Lutheran and I my mom is a Southern Baptist. Talk about different end of the spectrum. I had three friends that all had different believes. Before I could start I had to tell all three of my friends and get them to agree to help me to find myself without trying to influence me in any way. They all agreed to do so. One of them was Jewish, the second was a protestant and the third was Catholic. In order for me to really figure out what I wanted, I had to do a lot of research on the subjects. I started by researching on the computer then I went with each of my girlfriends to their prospected church’s for four weeks. I then set down and made a list of the pro’s and cons of all of the religions, including both of my parents as well. After many...
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...The most common pros are: Animals are appropriate research subjects because they are similar to human beings in many ways. Chimpanzees share 99% of their DNA with humans, and mice are 98% genetically similar to humans. All mammals, including humans, are descended from common ancestors, and all have the same set of organs that function in essentially the same way with the help of a bloodstream and central nervous system. Thus, because animals and humans are so biologically similar, they are susceptible to many of the same conditions and illnesses, which include heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Another ground breaking pro to Animal Testing is, Animal testing has contributed to many life-saving cures and treatments. The California Biomedical Research Association states that nearly every medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has resulted directly from research using animals. Experiments in which dogs had their pancreases removed led directly to the discovery of insulin, critical to saving the lives of diabetics. The polio vaccine, tested on animals, reduced the global occurrence of the disease from 350,000 cases in 1988 to 223 cases in 2012. Animal research has also contributed to major advances in understanding and treating conditions such as breast cancer, brain injury, childhood leukemia, cystic fibrosis, malaria,...
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...Ethical Theories- Pros and Cons Katherine Bryson ETH/316 October 15, 2012 Mark Cobia Ethical Theories- Pros and Cons The similarities between the virtue theory, the utilitarianism theory and deontological theory are that they all support good and responsibility. Virtue theory not only concentrates on how an individual acts but also what a person should strive to be, for example a religious figure may personify perfection when in the public when they really should strive for that perfection at all times. The deontological theory states that people “have a moral obligation to follow certain principles.” I liken this to the Ten Commandments, rules or principles that we all are expected to follow. “The utilitarian theories, as supported by John Stuart Mill, call for generating the greatest aggregate good for the greatest number of people. One major benefit of such theories is that they take consequences into account. They seek specifically to promote the human good as a whole. They also provide guidance for behavior, enabling people to know what qualifies as the moral choice.” I will again use the religious area as an example because to me this is what the religious leaders do. They preach to the multitudes to be good and do good and they also offer guidance. The differences between virtue theory, utilitarian and decontological are that “virtue ethics cannot generate specific rules to guide behavior...
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...three main ethical theories, Virtue theory, Utilitarianism, and Deontological and define them by providing examples of their similarities, and differences. Last this paper will identify how each theory addresses both ethics and morality and the Pros and Cons for each. According to New Yourks Saint Martins Press, 1998, each theory emphasizes different aspects of an ethical dilemma that lead to the most ethically correct resolution according to the guidelines within the ethical theory itself. The first Theory is the Virtue Theory and it is best defined as someone who’s character is pure and good and they naturally strive to do good by all people and they value other peoples well being as much as they value their own. This is a learned trait, but can be achieved by everyone if taught to put good out in the world, not for self gratification but instead because it’s morally right to do so. Unlike the deontological theory, the Virtue theory performs good deeds naturally and without regard to it being their duty to do so. But the negative aspect to this type of theory is that the decision is based on what one person perceives as a good deed and kind acts is not the same as what someone else perceives as the same and this causes to much personal opinion of what is good and kind with nothing to compare it to, except similar traits of good and kindness. The next ethical theory is the Utilitarianism, and it’s characteristics. Utilitarianism is the view that...
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...have contemplated our own humanity to make something real. Virtue Theory The Virtue Theory is a concept taken up by more than Aristotle that helps individuals define and contrast normative ethics by using deontology, which tends to emphasize cause and effect through rules and duties. The theory, then take admirable human characteristics and try to find the way in which humans should live best. “To experience these emotions (fear, courage, desire, anger, pity and pleasure) at the right times and on the right occasions, and toward the right persons and for the right causes and in the right manner is the mean or the supreme good, which is characteristic of virtue” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, II). Utilitarianism and Deontology Utilitarianism and Deontology are quite similar, and both hold that the most ethical thin one can do is any action that will maximize the happiness within an organization, or in society as a whole. The central maxim of the debate focuses on what is “good” or “appropriate” being not at the whim of the society in question, but more general and expandable. Actions have quantitative outcomes and the ethical choices that lead to the “greatest good for the greatest number” are the appropriate...
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...I wanted to approach both Kantianism vs. Utilitarianism for those who are not students of ethics words like utilitarianism and Kantianism may sound little foreign but for those are trying to tackle the world of ethics then these two represent important viewpoints. There are many similarities between utilitarianism and Kantianism but some can confuse some people. However, there are important differences between the two philosophies that I will try to explain. In Utilitarianism this philosophy believes that consequences of action are responsible for people judging that action as morally right or wrong. Thus, a believer of utilitarianism would say that the outcomes of the actions that is deemed morally right would be good. The theory says that people choose actions that help in maximizing happiness and at the same time remove misery, pain and agony. The worth of any human action depends upon its utility or value. Now with the view on Kantianism was put forward by Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher he focused on the duty he believed his philosophy take the position that the morality of an action is dependent upon whether the individual has adhered to the rules or not. Here are some points or highlights why Kantianism vs. utilitarianism. * Attitude towards what is right or wrong is what constitutes the basic difference between utilitarianism and Kantianism. * Utilitarianism says that an act is justified if maximum numbers of people are deriving happiness out of it. This...
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