Question

According to John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarian theory of ethics, how do we determine which actions are right and which actions are wrong? Be sure your answer makes use of the Greatest Happiness Principle and explains how this concept is used.

Answer 1

Mill’s utilitarianism suggests that an act would be considered ethical if it maximizes utility or happiness to maximum number of people and reduce any harm. This would mean that actions under utilitarianism would be evaluated based on the outcomes they produce, thus if an act produces bad outcome, it’s unethical and if it produces good outcome, it’s ethical. It also depends on producing good results for greater number, thus one should also look to maximize the outcomes for maximum number of people. If the act maximizes the outcomes for one person or minority while neglecting majority people, it would be wrong. Finally, an act should always strive to reduce pain or harm thus, it would be imperative that any act hat causes harm wouldn’t be considered ethical because the ultimate aim of utilitarianism is to maximize happiness.

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