One of the most common moral philosophies in the world today is utilitarianism. It was developed by John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham. Utilitarianism seeks to determine the moral stand of actions by looking at their effects and consequences (Mill 43). There are two different types of utilitarianism, act utilitarianism, and rule utilitarianism.
Act utilitarianism focuses on specific individual actions, for example, the murder of a political figure. Rule utilitarianism, on the other hand, focuses on the action as a whole such as murder (Mill 44). According to the utilitarian’s, morality is supposed to better life by increasing happiness and pleasure among other good things and reducing the negative things such as unhappiness and pain.
When it comes to the matter of abortion, there are two different viewpoints that can be adopted from the utilitarian philosophy. The different viewpoints depend on whether the one is looking at the foreseeable consequences or the actual consequences. According to the foreseeable consequences, viewpoint carrying out an abortion will be wrong since it will be viewed as taking a life. But what if this baby is born they are abandoned by the mother since they were unwanted or they are brought up in a dysfunctional home where their emotional needs are not met and they end up being a criminal.
When looking at the actual consequences from the utilitarian viewpoint then abortion, in this case, will be the morally right thing to do as it prevents the actual consequences, the child ending up being a criminal. Therefore, the utilitarian moral stand on abortion is determined by whether the individual focuses on the actual or foreseeable consequences. Focusing on the actual consequences will lead to the utilitarianism.
Egoism is a moral philosophy which suggests that people should be motivated by themselves when performing any action (Gamlund 23). There are different types of egoism the rational, descriptive and normative egoism. The opposite of egoism is altruism. Descriptive egoism suggests that people are motivated by their own interests and wants. Normative egoism suggests that individuals ought to be motivated regardless of what the motivational factor may be. According to Rand on the matter of ethical egoism, the act of being selfish is a good thing to pursue however she castoffs selfless selfishness (Gamlund 27). Rand suggests that individuals ought to seek out their interests and that failing to do so would be irrational.
According to ethical egoism philosophy, abortion is morally right as long as it’s in one best interests. The theory suggests that one should pursue their interests and wants and this comes before other people. For one to be truly altruistic then they should be selfish and pursue their interests first for true altruism doesn’t come without satisfying one’s own needs.
Egoism supports abortion since according to the philosophy humans always act for their own benefit, we are inherently selfish and driven to pursue our own interests. Therefore, whether the individual decides to keep or abort the child they are acting out of their own interests and not out of the interests of the unborn child.
In conclusion, when discussing the morality of abortion using the ethical egoistic view then there would only be one conclusion for all parties that abortion is justified as long as it is in the individual’s interests. However, for the utilitarian view, two possibilities emerge depending on whether the individual is looking at the actual or foreseeable consequences of the action. When looking at the foreseeable consequences then abortion is morally wrong but when looking at the actual consequences abortion is morally right.
Work Cited
Gamlund, Espen. “Espen Gamlund.” New York: Oxford, 2012. Print.
Mill, John Stuart. “Utilitarianism.” Reading 2 (2010): 37-40. Print.
