Flaws with Utilitarianism Essay - 628 Words

Among the most glaring problems that I see with Utilitarianism is its inclusion of animals under the umbrella that blankets this theory. It seems irrefutable that there exists an inordinate number of cases where the consequence that is against the best interest of an animal is favorable to humans, yet that dictating action is one that has been continually taken and condoned by the general public. This is a fundamental challenge, as the Utilitarian philosophy decrees that the pleasure and pain experienced by all individuals, including animals, has equal worth and must be considered when determining the net benefit of an action’s consequences. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The most drastic and prevalent of examples that one could provide to†¦show more content†¦Animals are bread forcibly, then nourished with specific intent of managing fat content, meat flavor, and healthiness, each of which discounts the Utilitarian claim that nature makes our carnivorous methods ethically permissible. Secondly, and perhaps more fundamentally, such a claim is in direct contradiction to the Utilitarian tenet that each individual has equal value regardless of identity or stature. Because humans could be sufficiently nourished without the killing of animals, it cannot be argued that the consequence of causing death to an animal is equivalent or less substantial than that of feeding a man. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Conversely, there exist equally as many challenges to raise had the ethicist taken the alternate position that animals have equal value and accordingly that their pleasure is impermissibly infringed upon when they are killed for human interest. Arguments could be presented for a bevy of actions taken on a daily basis by society as a whole. One might address the fact that using animal testing for the advancement of medicine has benefits that outweigh the pains. Similarly, while the development of land effectively kills the previously animal inhabitants, it is an accepted result that society has displayed it is willing to disregard. In each of these cases, the majority of society condones such behavior, as evidenced by theirShow MoreRelatedUtilitarianism And Its Flaws Of John Stuart Mill s Defends Utilitarianism Essay1307 Words   |  6 PagesEthics from a Global Perspective 7 December 2016 Utilitarianism and its Flaws John Stuart Mill’s defends utilitarianism, an ethical theory according to which, as he puts it, â€Å"actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness† (155 Ethics). In other words, actions are morally right if they make us happy and actions are morally wrong if they make us unhappy. 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