Introduction to Philosophy
22 December 2014
Utilitarianism’s Uses in Today’s World
Throughout time, there have been many different methods of establishing justice, introduced by multiple thinkers who all have different opinions on how to go about it. Utilitarianism is a theory of ethics and values that first originated in Greece with Aristippus and Epicurus. Their original theories center on the thought that attaining pleasure is the most important aspect of daily life. Utilitarianism is “the view that we should act to promote the greatest amount of happiness (and create the least amount of suffering possible) for the greatest number of people” (Chaffee 507). This theory has transformed throughout the years, due to different …show more content…
His view differed from the original theory that focused on achieving pleasure for oneself by stating that everyone deserves to have an equal opportunity for achieving pleasure. By his standards, in order to live in a just and equal society that allows this, everyone must work in the interest of others around him to be able to acquire pleasure himself. So a rich man had to treat his poor servants with respect and make it so they were as happy as could be in their situation. His theory is based around the most important aspect of the human experience, self-control. He believes that in trying to find pleasure while avoiding pain, man often acts without thinking and makes emotional instead of logical decisions, which was unacceptable. When people act based on emotion, they put themselves first, which completely defeats the purpose of his …show more content…
Thinkers before him had discussed the topic, but merely brushed it off, where Singer based his philosophy on how the utilitarian theory should applied in this sense. Throughout history, race, gender and class have been issues when it comes to equality. Although they are still prevalent today, Singer focuses on defending animals, as they cannot speak for themselves. Bentham supports this claim, saying “The question is not, Can they reason? Nor, Can they talk? But, Can they suffer?” (Chaffee 520). Both of these thinkers talk about how laws protect one human from another but not an animal from humans. A man can kill his dog if it is in misery, but if an older person is on the brink of death, nothing can be done to end their misery, as that would be