James Rachels: The Debate Over Utilitarianism
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What I expect to learn:
In this chapter, I expect to learn and understand different views of people about Utilitarianism.
Quote:
“Instead, they are individuals who, by their own choices, show themselves to deserve different kinds of responses”
Review:
While reading this chapter, I immediately got so interested in what Rachels is pointing out because what she is saying here is what I actually say against in the last article about Stuart. I like what Rachels says here that Happiness is not something that is recognized as good and sought for its own sake, with other things appreciated only as means of bringing it about. Instead, happiness is a response we have to the attainment of things that we recognize as goods, independently and in their own right. That is why I agree that Hedonism gets things the wrong way around. Also in this article, I think the idea that in order to determine whether an action would be right, we should look at what will happen as a result of doing it is really right. We need to look first about the outcomes of an act before we say that this act is morally right. Furthermore, there are two bases or theories where we can say an act is right first is by the rule-utilitarianism, it is the new version of the theory which rules are established by reference to the principle and individual’s acts will then be judged right and wrong by reference to the rules or to make it simple for rule utilitarian, you can say that the act is right by looking on the amount of good it brings when pursued. In contrast, the act-utilitarianism is the original theory. Act utilitarian judge actions in terms of the goodness of their consequences or outputs. Just like what Rachels said “Common sense” can, indeed, mislead us. We cannot deny that sometimes we tend to follow or make a decision because it is what the majority says. Sometimes we need to think first about the other factors or consequences before we decide. We may ask ourselves the questions: What are the consequences of this act? and also most importantly we must ask if it it’s a moral act? Is it right?
What I have learned:
I’ve learned in this chapter that we have the ability to choose what is right. And when choosing, we can’t always choose the right one, so we must be careful. We must choose the best goals using the best possible means to bring about the best possible results.
Integrative questions:
- What is act-utilitarianism?
- What is rule-utilitarianism?
- How Stuart’s point of view differs from Rachels?
