House of Stuart

When studying social contract theory, Hobbes and Locke are must-reads. Indeed, the two philosophers are arguably the fore-founders of today’s democratic fabric. Now, despite their ideologies being somewhat in agreement on the origins of commonwealths, they certainly differ as to the reach and purpose of it. Locke’s critique of Hobbes pertains to the latter’s case for absolute monarchy. Locke notes that “absolute monarchs are but men,” as such, anyone governed by them will be subject to their…

On Happiness I: Kant’s view of the Concept (or Idea) of Happiness In this section, through an analysis of Kant’s Groundwork, Critique of Practical Reason, and The Metaphysics of Morals, I will demonstrate: (1) The elements of happiness and what happiness is about; (2) The concept of happiness is different for different humans; (3) The principle of happiness is the same for different humans; and (4) Why having the same content and principle of happiness for all humans is not a principle of the…

have questioned what makes an action right or wrong. Founder of Kantianism, Immanuel Kant asserts that the moral worth of one’s action is dependent on whether or not one is motivated by duty, while founders of Utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill claim that an action’s moral worth relies on the amount of happiness it produces, and for how many people. It is significantly easier to find an action to be morally right according to Kantianism than according to Utilitarianism. Suppose…

In this essay, I am going to write about the utilitarianism theory that defines the morality of actions as the greatest happiness principle that states that moral action is one that maximize happiness for the greatest amount of people and the categorical imperative which also taught us that, the rightness or wrongness of action does not depend on their consequences, but on whether they fulfill their duty. I believe this two theories might be correct in one way or the other, but as we have…

patients who survived and accumulated is more happiness, than just your daughters alone. Most people know that after taking an action it has consequences, but there are points we need to measure to make sure it's worth it. An objection presented to John Stuart Mill states that it is so far removed for morality and that utilitarianism is basically giving authority for it to be justified to disobey principles that should be upheld. Mill responds to Bentham by explaining that he forgot to…

place that allowed married women to keep their property (“Gender-Discrimination-History,” n.d., para. 1). Harriet Taylor Mills was an English philosopher and an advocate for the rights of women in the nineteenth century. She was married to John Stuart Mill who was also a philosopher. She became well known for her essay “The Enfranchisement of Women” and was printed in the New York Tribune a reputable periodical in England. In her essay, she described how women rights are not equal to the…

During the 1800s, a secular theory emerged called Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a practical way of making ethical decisions without using any religion or faith to come up with whether something is right or wrong but rather focuses on the consequences of the actions (Ruddell, 2004). When using utilitarianism a person is evaluating the consequences and determining how much good will be generated versus how much pain will be caused by the decision. Mill’s is one of the people associated with…

The moral theory of utilitarianism is based on the idea that actions are considered “good” if they produce pleasure, and they are considered “not good” if they produce pain. The goal is to choose the actions that produce the most pleasure or happiness for the most people. This seems like it would obviously be preferred by everyone, but most people fail to realize that this type of “perfect” society would require them to make a lot of personal sacrifices for the good of the people as a whole. In…

Mills utilitarian theory was written so that he could go over various misconceptions about the theory, and to address the value of utilitarianism. His theory states that every person’s happiness is equal to another’s, stating no one’s happiness is more important than anyone else’s. He adopts the principle that to achieve the greatest amount of happiness, you must do the greatest good. Mills also introduced the concept of right, and wrong decisions. Based off of this he states that a “wrong…

“According to the normal view, happiness is the summum bonum towards which we’re naturally impelled by virtue - which in their definition means following one’s natural impulses” (72). Pursuing happiness is thought of as a self-centrical idea in the outside world. Once an individual attains happiness, they do not feel obligated to help the people around them, because they would rather continue to further their pleasure. Utopia, an imaginary perfect society created by Thomas More, is far different…