Florida National University Euthanasia Contemporary Moral Issue Paper
Question Description
Read Chapter 2 and watch Week 3 Lectures. Choose a contemporary moral issue in our society (course materials) and apply the ethical principle of Utilitarianism to approve this moral issue. You must pick a moral issue that you strongly support and apply the utilitarian claims (course materials) to back up your arguments. The paper must be done in MLA format with a minimum of 500 words (quotes are not included in the word count). You must use at least 3 sources from LIRN (code 24439) in the library. This assignment is due on July the 14th before 11:59 pm. You must apply Bentham/Mill’s “Principle of Utility” for 50 points and Bentham’s Felicific Calculus for 50 points. Both are under course materials.
Week 3 Lectures:
List of Contemporary Moral Issues
Euthanasia
Infanticide
Child Labor
Gay Marriage
Capital Punishment
Stem Cells
Genocide
Forced Prostitution
Voluntary Prostitution
War, Terrorism, and Counter-terrorism
Race and Ethnicity
Gender
World Hunger and Poverty
Environmental Ethics
Animal Rights
Animal Testing
Sexual Harassment
Abortion (as a result of rape, incest, or mother/baby health at risk)
Drug Legalization
Media/Entertainment
Health Care Costs
Education Cost
Utilitarian claims:
Utilitarianism: is the ethical doctrine that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility.
It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the morality of an action is determined by its outcome
*the ends justify the means.
*Utility: the good to be maximized
Peter Singer defines it as the satisfaction of preferences.
* an action may be considered right if it produces the greatest amount of net benefit and the least loss/cost of any available alternative action.
* the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action.
*morally right action is one that produces a good outcome, or consequence.
* the good is whatever brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people.
* “the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
* calculate the utility of an action by adding up all of the pleasure produced and subtracting from that any pain that might also be produced by the action.
Utilitarianism approach to morality quantitative and reductionistic
Utilitarianism can be contrasted with deontological ethics focuses on the action itself rather than its consequences
In general use the term utilitarian often refers to a somewhat narrow economic or pragmatic viewpoint.
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