Famine, Affluence, and Morality Terry Simmons PHI 208 Instructor: Stephen Carter January 28, 2013 Famine, Affluence, and Morality Peter Singer opens his argument by introducing the reader to a famine in Bengal setting up his first premise stating “suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad”. (Singer, 1972) Singer elaborates to say this is merely one point of view and that some “people can hold all sorts of eccentric positions, and perhaps from some of
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Jeremy Bentham was a British philosopher who has been regarded as the founder of utilitarianism. He was born in London in 1748. Bentham was known for not being very social and he was known for not liking to make public speeches so he spent most of his time writing papers and books on philosophy, economics and politics. In 1830 Bentham wrote a book called the Constitutional Code where he determined that the all-comprehensive object, or end in view, is, from first to last, the greatest happiness
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The In Dr. Michael Sandel’s video, “The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number”, the issue of utilitarianism in regards to policy making is discussed. In particular, the philosophies of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are called into question and applied to modern day scenarios that illustrate how difficult it can be to create a policy based on utilitarianism alone. Several issues arise throughout the course of the discussion that create doubt as to its effectiveness as well as convincing evidence
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Utilitarianism: * Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes utility, usually defined as maximizing happiness and reducing suffering. * The Utilitarian tradition is often summarised as “the greatest good for the greatest number” * “The Classical Utilitarians, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, identified the good with pleasure”. Therefore pleasure is the ultimate goal that will lead to an ethical society, according
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I have chosen to evaluate the following rules of ethics as they apply to the world of business: utilitarianism, moral rights and the justice rule. In this paper, I will define each approach and provide the strength and weakness of each as well as compare and contrast the theories I have chosen. UTILITARIAN APPROACH When employed in the use of making business decisions, the goal of utilitarianism is to maximize the greater good for the greater group of people or on the contrary, minimize the
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Utilitarianism— A Flawed Moral Theory Utilitarianism is an ethical theory founded by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. This theory stresses the greatest happiness principle. Actions that promote happiness are seen as morally acceptable while things that fail to promote happiness are seen as morally unacceptable. The pursuit of happiness is the key concept in utilitarianism. Rachel’s further explains this idea in The Right Thing to Do, “Utilitarianism is the theory that we should always try
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Ethical issue: Is it ethical for the hotel to organize trips to the “Red Light” area for the purpose of boosting occupancy rates? According to Act Utilitarianism, The affected parties are: * Hotel Management (CEO – Jeronimo) * The Red Light package may boost the occupancy rate of the hotel, giving the hotel a significant source of revenue, which will ease the pressure from the shareholders. (Pleasure) * It may damage the hotel’s reputation since it is likely, that from this
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Singer’s Solution to World Poverty In this paper, I will argue that Singer fails to establish that we are morally required to give to charity. In Peter Singer’s Famine, Affluence, and Morality, he makes the claim that we ought to give up any surplus money we might have and send it to places like Bengal to prevent people from suffering or dying. However, is this really something we are obligated to do? Singer relies on two important yet controversial principles that help him establish his conclusion
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The Right Stance By Caltex in South Africa? The Right Stand By Caltex in South Africa? In looking back in retrospect over things that have happened in an individual’s life as well as events in the world, it is both difficult and easy to look at a tense, volatile situation in the present and decide which course of action might have been the better choice. There is also no denying that it is difficult for leadership of all levels to decide if the needs of the group as a whole outweigh the needs
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Biography of Jeremy Bentham: Before I begin to give you an autobiography of Jeremy Bentham, I would like give you this little supplement of the subject Right or Wrong i.e... Principle of Utility. Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two supreme masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one hand we have right and wrong, on the other we have the chain of causes and effects. They govern us in all
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