Turnitin Assignment Content
Read Chapter 2 and watch Week 3 Lectures. Choose a contemporary moral issue in our society (see below) and apply the ethical principle of Utilitarianism to approve this moral issue. You must pick a moral issue that you strongly support and apply the utilitarian claims (see below) to back up your arguments. The paper must be done in MLA/APA format with a minimum of 500 words (quotes are not included in the word count).
*You must apply the Four major points of Utilitarianism (week 3 Lecture) apply Bentham’s Felicific Calculus 9 (see below) and apply the utilitarian claims.
List of Contemporary Moral Issues
Euthanasia
Gun Control
Infanticide
Child Labor
Gay Marriage
Capital Punishment
Stem Cells
Genocide
War, Terrorism, and Counterterrorism
Race and Ethnicity
Gender
Transgender using Public Bathrooms
World Hunger and Poverty
Environmental Ethics
Animal Rights
Animal Testing
Abortion (as a result of rape, incest, or mother/baby health at risk)
Drug Legalization
Media/Entertainment
Voluntary Prostitution
Forced Prostitution
Health Care Costs
Education Cost
Utilitarian Claims
Utilitarianism: is the ethical doctrine that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility.
It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the morality of an action is determined by its outcome
*the ends justify the means.
*Utility: the good to be maximized
Peter Singer defines it as the satisfaction of preferences.
* an action may be considered right if it produces the greatest amount of net benefit and the least loss/cost of any available alternative action.
* the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action.
*morally right action is one that produces a good outcome, or consequence.
* the good is whatever brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people.
* “the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
* calculate the utility of an action by adding up all of the pleasure produced and subtracting from that any pain that might also be produced by the action.
Utilitarianism approach to morality quantitative and reductionistic
Utilitarianism can be contrasted with deontological ethics – focuses on the action itself rather than its consequences
Bentham’s Felicific Calculus 9
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MLA
639 words