Summary and Analysis - “The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number

Summary and Analysis - “The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number

Introduction

This essay is based on Episode 1 and 2 of 'Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do?'. The videos are based on the principal of Greatest Good for the Greatest Number. The Utilitarian approach is based on the judgment of the actions but not the subject which are the part of action. This approach focuses on the repercussions of the actions. According to the videos, the issue of using elf labor from the Utilitarian perspective has positive effect on the whole society. It is because, many people are getting advantage from it which is working for the welfare of the people and increasing the profits of the firm. According to the Utilitarian approach, society would be a collection of individuals who want power over others incessantly at the expense of themselves and not explode a company formed in this way is necessary to establish the right order. Laws should produce happiness for the greatest number of people (Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do? Episode 01, 2013). Utilitarian ethics is one of the most important moral philosophies of the nineteenth century. Utilitarianism is the direct heir of the ethics of Hume and the empiricist philosophers. The utilitarian's, as its name suggests, talk about the usefulness of what gives pleasure. All humans seek pleasure in their activities in one way or another. The utilitarian believe that an action will be so much that more pleasure morally generate for many people as possible (Stephen, 2011).

Discussion and Analysis

The videos explores that there are various criteria according to utilitarianism for The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number. One is that the action must report the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Utilitarianism means a conception of morality according to which the good is only what is useful, becoming therefore the principle of utility on the fundamental principle according to which we judge the morality of our actions. The ethical notion of Utilitarianism suggests that the consequences are more important than the action itself. Accordingly, the decision regarding the execution or non execution of any action should be taken according to the consequences of that action. The aim is to bring good and pleasure to the majority. Any action that brings or increases pleasure and minimizes the pain or loss for the majority of the parties should be pursued. This theory of utilitarianism has been utilized a many times to oppose and advocate the issue of human and animal rights.

One of the first exponents of utilitarianism is Bentham. The principle of greatest happiness for the greatest number is articulated by this author, who is influenced by various authors. Among them the famous are Hume, Helvetius, Beccaria and Priestley who inherits his legal thinking, ethical and political. Bentham has the audacity to articulate the first draft of the utilitarian theory of morals and politics, who was to be largely corrected, clarified and refined ...