2.

Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory which is the maximizes utility. "Utility" is defined in
various ways, usually in terms of the well-being of sentient entities. Jeremy Bentham, the founder
of utilitarianism, described utility as the sum of all pleasure that results from an action, minus the
suffering of anyone involved in the action. Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism, which
is the only standard of right and wrong.
The key aspects to utilitarianism are, first, that ehicality is assessed on the basis of non
ethical consequences. Next, Ethical decisions should be oriented towards increasing happiness
and/or reducing pain, where happiness and pain can be either physical or psychological.
Futhermore, happiness and pain relate to all society and not just to the personal happiness or pain
of the decision maker. Finally, the ethical decision maker must be impartial and not give extra
weight to personal feelings when calculating the overall net probable consequences of a decision.
Parts of utilitarianism :
1. Act and Rule Utilitarianism
An action is ethically bad or incorrect if it will probably produce the opposite. Rule utilitarianism,
on the other hand, says that we should follow the rule that will probably produce a greater balance
of good over evil and avoid the rule that will probably produce the reverse. D
So, the guiding principle for a rule utilitarian is follow the rule that tends to produce the greatest
amount of pleasure over pain fot the greatest bumber of people who will probably be affected by
the action.
2. Mean & Ends
Before identifying some of the problems with utilitarianism, we must understand what the theory
is not. The political principle the end justifies the means is not an ethical theory. First, it incorrectly
assumes that means and ends are ethically equivalent and Second it incorrectly assumes that there
is only one means to achieving the end.
3. Weaknesses in Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism presupposes that such things as happiness, utility, pleasure, and anguish can be
quantified. The weaknesses in utilitarianism is not being able to predict what happens in the future
whether it is good for us or bad for us. Another problem concerns the distribution and intensity of
happiness. The utilitarians principle is to produce as much happiness as is possible and to distribute
that happiness to as many as is possible.
Minority right maybe violated under utilitarianism. In a democracy, the will of the majority rules
on election day. For example : People are comfortable with this because those who lose in one
election day have the chance of having their party come into power in the next election. It is not a
simple with ethical decision making.