Question

Are you an ethical egoist or an act or rule utilitarian? Analyze how these theories have or have not worked for you while dealing with specific moral issues and problems.

Answer 1

Act Utilitarianism plays an important role on maximizing benefits for the most people. The moral worth of any action is judged by how much the benefits gained for all perceptive beings. Some individuals may suffer from these actions, it does better for a bigger number of people if utilitarianism holds the conducted ethical principle. Ethical egoism refers to the moral conduct should be judged through self-interest. It states that the good consequences for the individual has greater ability as compared with the consequences placed upon others. In addition, actions could be considered as ethical for the individual whoever is taking the action which is benefited, while any advantage or disadvantage to the well-being of others is a secondary effect and not as important as the consequences for the individual. The similarity between act utilitarianism and ethical egoism are both contained large number of sub-theories within each branch which are the value placed between the individual and others. Both ethical egoism and act utilitarianism are allowing an individual to put himself or herself first in determining the right action to take in a particular situation whether the particular action is right or wrong. This is different from pure selflessness which states that only working for the benefit of others is morally valuable. In act utilitarianism, the ethical action may be bringing harms towards specific individual but maximizes the positive impact for the most people.