While discussing the core traits of the utilitarianism, it is essential to refer to the fact that this is the ethical theory, which has been elaborated by John Stuart Mill in 1861. The core purpose of this ethical position is to make the utilitarian principle to be the basis for the morals. In accordance with this theory, the human activities may be referred as the right ones in proportion to the way the overall human happiness is promoted by them. In other words, it means that the major focus of this theory is put on the outcomes of the actions rather than on their ethical sentiments or rights. The author of the theory has defined it as the background for the morals and the theory of life. The theory of life in this case, was represented from the monistic perspective – pleasure is the only intrinsically desirable thing of human life. This approach may be contrasted to the hedonism, where pleasure is considered as the homogeneous issue. Utilitarianism emphasizes that some particular types of pleasure are more valuable in comparison to others - and the core determining factors in such case are the goodness and personal value of their inherent qualities. That is why, the position of John Stuart Mill is usually referred in the scientific literature as the “qualitative hedonism” (Sandel 1).
After discussion, I have learnt that the theory of moral obligation is an integral part of the utilitarianism theory (Miller 1). Even while the significance of this approach was under the question until 1970s, afterwards it was used as the bridgeheads for Mill’s ethics’ revisionist interpretation by John Skorupski and David Lyons. Additional attention should be paid to the fact that at the beginning of his theory, the author has postulated that the rules are presumed by the moral judgments. It is possible to contrast such approach to Kant’s one, where it is stated that the core background for the ethical theory is the self-imposed rules (which are also referred in the scientific literature as maxims). It was stated by Mill that the social rules create the background for the morality. The core determining factors for transformation of the social rules into the moral ones, are the “morally wrong” and “morally right” doings (IEP 1).
My personal position regarding this theory is the following - I completely agree that the outcomes of the actions determine their essence from the perspective of ‘what is morally right’ and what is ‘morally wrong’. This may be supported by the fact that only good effects of the actions may be referred as the relevant ones. In other words, the major purpose of the morality is improvement of the life quality through maximization of the total number of the good things (for instance, happiness and pleasure) alongside with minimization of the negative issues, affecting human lives - such as lack of happiness, pain and disasters. It is considered by the utilitarians that the core background for the morality in terms of becoming justifiable or true is its positive effect on human (and in some cases, non-human) creatures.
Works cited
IEP. John Stuart Mill: Ethics. 2014 <http://www.iep.utm.edu/mill-eth/>
Miller, W. Ethics 5 Utilitarianism <https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JdtWu4Cqx1Y>
Sandel, M. J.S. Mill, Utilitarianism (1863). 2013 < http://www.justiceharvard.org/resources/j-s-mill-utilitarianism-1863/ >
