I’ve learned about the three main theories of utilitarianism
I’ve learned about the three main theories of utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics. Utilitarianism theory can be summed up by the theory that seeks to maximize utility, or the greatest good for the greatest number of people. The utilitarianism theory is the one most aligned with common sense, most people use this theory to provide easy answers to ethical situations without realizing it is a theory. Sometimes the result of using this theory can interfere with what we may believe is right or wrong. While utilitarianism looks at the consequences of a given act, deontology focuses on the reason for which an act is done. Deontology also known as duty ethics is derived from the Greek word deon, which means duty. Deontology doesn’t deny that acts don’t have consequences but insists the consequences of such acts should not play a role in our moral evaluation of an act. It says something is moral provided it follows the law. Deontology is judged, based on the action of an individual. Deontology depicts what an individual thought to have something done. If the actions are good in deontology with bad results, it is considered good, while when the actions are bad with good results it is considered bad. Utilitarian is a theory that says something is right, if it makes one happy and goes with combat majority. It bases its argument on the results of the actions by an individual. It is consequential. If the results are good with a bad aim, it is considered bad and the results are good with a bad aim, it is considered good. Utilitarian and deontological reasoning have few similarities. They both determine what human actions are right or wrong. As we have said they have few similarities. The main differences in the two are as follows: utilitarian is consequential. It has its judgment made on the aftermath of an action. This means that after an action is done, what comes after, determine the results of the actions, and is where judgments would be based on. The moral of the action is not based on what the person had thought to do. On the other hand, deontology takes the opposite way. Our actions are determined to be good or bad for why we do them. If we had good intention of doing things, our actions are morally good no matter what the results. As well if we do something bad, our actions are morally bad no matter what the results. Utilitarianism is concerned with our action results while deontology is concerned with what we thought of when in action.
While egoism is different from utilitarianism in that it suggests that individuals should always be guided by what is in their own self-interest. Utilitarianism proposes that a person’s actions should be undertaken with a view to producing the most happiness. This does not necessarily entail producing the most happiness for one’s self, but could be for society for a whole.
The most important thing which I’ve learned in this module were the population growth, poverty and the effect that they have on our environment. Human population has an impact on environment in many way as rising populations put increasing demands on the natural resources such as land, water and energy supplies. The more the global population grows, the more weight it places on the environment as every human being consumes their share of resources and with so many birth originated from poor communities due to lack of resources on engaging in birth control and the burdens placed on the environment grow heavier and heavier each day. As human communities use more resources, they generate contaminants, such as air and water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and they also increase larger quantities of waste
While natural resources are being depleted, clean air is growing scarce, climates are shifting and the entire ecosystems are being affected. While human places stress on the environment, poverty in particular has played a major role in environmental degradation across the world as poor communities lack the proper knowledge when it comes to production techniques hence the ways in which they use resources to help them survive are harmful to the resources around them and ultimately the world at large such as air pollution and water pollution. Air pollution is one of the major consequences of poor production techniques while water pollution is a result of poor water management, once again due to lack of knowledge and are extremely harmful to human health.
In order to help the state of the environment, we must first help the state of the poor and education is key. We all need to know what the proper and harmless methods are in which they can dispose of our waste. We must learn how to tend a healthy and sound agricultural system without the reliance on degraded soil, and other unfit resources as we only have one planet and we should all do our part to ensure that its protected by combining our ways of living with deeper respect and understanding of what nature provides as our entire life support system is dependent on the wellbeing of all of the species living on earth
