Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on A Look at Utilitarianism. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 4 page paper examines the concept of utilitarianism, defines it and goes on to explore positive and negative aspects of the theory. The concept is briefly compared to Kantian ethics. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA413U.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
principle but complications arise in terms of application. Founders Bentham and Mill for example saw the law as something detrimental and something that impinged on the happiness of people (223).
Indeed, one may easily understand their positions. People just want to be left alone but one finds that society sees fit to implement morality. The collection of people make laws
regarding smoking pot, drinking, driving, gambling and alcohol. They make laws about prostitution and sex in general. Many of the things that seem to give people pleasure--and usually do no
harm-- seem to be regulated anyway. To a utilitarian, the only reason for punishment is due to the fact that it has a deterrent effect (Pojman and Meagher 223).
It makes sense. If a criminal is locked up for a crime, there will hopefully be a deterrent effect. If so, this would create the greatest happiness for the greatest
number because then there will be a reduced amount of crime. It is important to note that while utilitarianism appears rather simple, it not only gets more complex, it has
a dual nature. There are two types of utilitarian thought which is act utilitarianism which is the more popular one, and rule utilitarianism (Pojman and Meagher 223). Act
utilitarians are often thought of as consequentialists because they look at the consequences of their actions. If they give money to charity they will be helping a lot of people.
If they use their money for a new pair of shoes, that will only make one person happy. Therefore, when deciding what to do according to the theory, one looks
at consequences. For this example, a charitable contribution could yield many pairs of inexpensive shoes for poor people as opposed to one pair of nice shoes that means little to
...