In this essay I hope to assess whether an adherent to the ethical doctrine of Utilitarianism can truly acknowledge the value of justice. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist moral theory in which the emphasis of morality is placed firmly on the consequences of a person's actions. This places utilitarianism at odds with other ethical doctrines, such as deontological ethics or virtue ethics, which place the emphasis on a person's rational duty or their inherent moral virtue respectively. The key aim of utilitarianism is to judge every action by the amount of happiness it either creates or decreases in the person performing the act and those people affected by it.
The concept of utilitarianism first originated from the philosophies of David Hume and John Locke, before being fully developed into what it is today by the works of Jeremy Bentham and his student, John Stewart Mill. Bentham was the first to develop and adhere to a strict ideological structure for the doctrine, while Mill......
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Approximate Word Count: 1529
Approximate Pages: 6 (260 words per double-spaced page) |