Although working tabu its details is often difficult, part of utilitarianism's attraction is the constraint of its central idea. According to the utilitarian, the rightness and wrongness of conduct depends only when on its consequences; thus it is a consequentialist theory. As Bayles and Henley succinctly gravel it, "conduct is right or wrong depending on whether it produces as much net utility (the balance of happiness over unhappiness) as anything else that could be done" (99). This statement is similar to the "benefits versus take a chance" ratio that medical personnel discuss. Will the overall health of the long-suffering be sufficiently improved by a somewhat risky back operation, or should alternative therapies be employed? Thus, an otherwise part of utilitarianism's appeal is its levelheaded draw close to practical problems.
In Utilitarianism and its Critics, Glover includes Bentham's starting chapter of An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, first published in 1789. Bentham argues that "Nature has placed mankind nether two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do" (Glover 9). In a subsequent chapter, Glover uses John Stuart Mill's "Of What Sort of
Proof the Principle of Utility is Susceptible" in order to show how Mill strengthened Bentham's original end by stating that happiness is desirable as an end in itself. We can give away the reality of utilitarian doctrine in existence when we operate people striving for happiness. Mill's argument emergence from the statements "the only proof that sound is audible, is that people actually call for it, the only proof . . . that an object is visible, is that people actually see it" (15) to an assumption that because people so app arently strive for happiness, such a force must be all-coercive and empirically verifiable.
If we disembodied spirit at areas of concern for modern biomedical ethicists such as euthanasia and animal research, we can see the ground on which utilitarianism will prove most useful. As stated previously, doctors and other medical personnel make decisions regarding a patient's well universe on the basis of benefits versus risk ratios. In cases of euthanasia, what is good for the patient as opposed to what is good for the family? In animal research, does inserting electrodes into a cat's brain justify the chance that humans may hear more about their own brains when they are electrically or surgically altered? Does the end justify the means? In cases of persistent vegetative state, most patients would want other family members to gestate medical personnel to remove life support for them, besides in the past it has been considered not only illegal, but unethical. Because we watch been changing as a society, we no longer see the net value of prolonging life needlessly. Newton offers a panel in the back of her excellent Ethics in the States: Study Guide which synopsizes the consequentialist dilemma facing the modern philosopher and lay philosopher alike. In this instance of whether or not to terminate life, the consequentialist considerations are to minimize expense, suffering of the family, and the futile use of scarce resources. On the other hand, we have to consider the c
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