Free Essay On Utilitarianism

The nature of utilitarianism helps man make an effort to the question, “what should a man do? Which the answer ought to produce the best results to come forth. It is with this thought that utilitarianism takes the good and the bad caused by the deed. When evaluating this action it takes into account not only the happiness of the individual, but also of everybody touched by it. If such a theory opposes egoism does it seem to be rather “hollow” and rapid to approach? I disagree because it rallies for the common good of every individual.
The employ of a hedonic calculus is in theory very possible to apply. It works by summing up units that cause happiness/pleasure with those that cause discomfort, in the present and in the future. This provides a standard by which the present practices of the society are assessed and improved. It is a necessity for our actions mainly lead to pleasure or pain, since happiness is the desired factor at the end of every action, then it has to be the standard we use to judge human actions and reactions.
In its defense, utilitarianism does not allow people to manifest their actions in excesses. In the case of population increase, it is easy to evaluate this by simple questions that act as a calculus to this problem. They include
- Will there be a balance between resources exhausted & resources replenished?
- Will the resources be clean at the end as it may have been from the beginning?
- Will the culture of the community be preserved or eroded?
- Will the legacies be preserved by the future generations?
These are just but a sample of what would determine the answer to the problem. With this rationale the society will evaluate the decision making process and will come to a conclusion as to whether or not the action of the population increase will maintain the quality of life present, as well as, the obligation to the future society's standards of living in which basic needs will be present.