The Ethical Theory Of Utilitarianism

The ethical theory utilitarianism is the idea of whether actions are morally right or wrong depending on their consequences and determining "what is the right thing to do?". The overall theory of utilitarianism is to maximize both happiness and pleasure for the greater good. All utilitarians believe that the purpose of morality is to make decisions that equate to the greater good of the people. Utilitarianism is a pretty simple theory; it looks at the consequences of an action as to whether the result is good to the majority of people affected by the action.
There are two types of utilitarianism; act and rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism is choosing an action that will result in the majority of the people benefitting or has the best consequences …show more content…
Actions that we would immediately feel were morally wrong, such as killing an innocent, would be okay in the eyes of an act-utilitarian. For example, in a situation where five innocents could only be saved by the killing of one innocent, an act-utilitarian would view this as morally correct to kill this person to save the other five because you are saving more lives than you are losing and this would be for the greater good. A rule-utilitarian would argue that the road to right and wrong is rules, all an individual must do is review and follow a set of rules or laws that have already been made with the intentions to appease the greater good. If you follow the set of rules that “killing is wrong”, and let life take its course then you don’t have to make the inhumane choice of killing another …show more content…
Act-utilitarians thinks it is ok for everyone to follow the rules they agree with while they decide whether or not they will follow them. For example, an act utilitarian will stop behind a bus with the stop sign out and think “I hope everyone else who isn’t me follows the law to stop, but since I see no kids crossing and no one will be harmed by my actions, I’ll just go around to save time.” While a rule-utilitarian would stop and follow the law just because it is a law and secures the safety of individuals. The double standards of act-utilitarianism allow holes to be poked in its entire theory. This is why I lean more towards rule-utilitarianism. In conclusion, the ethical theory of utilitarianism is the idea to take into consideration the consequences of an action and see if it benefits the greater good of the people. Both, act and rule utilitarianism set out to benefit the majority of the people but in completely different ways. It all comes down to which one you feel is more preferable for you. For me, it would be rule-utilitarianism. Why not follow rules that are already set and morally justified than have to make up your own rules and decide if they’re morally