Utilitarianism too demanding?

Utilitarianists beleive that all action derives from the intent of creating overall happiness throughout society. The question that arises from this beleif is whether or not its too demanding of people too expect them to live their lives based on the notion of constantly trying not only to improve ones own life, but the lifes of others as well. I beleive that everyones interests are too hard for society to look out for. Although i agree with the fact that individuals should be thinking about others than themselves, i feel it is too much to expect an individual to focus all of his actions towards others. I belive that if people conduct their lives in an overall positive manner society as a whole will benefit one way or the other. Motive doesnt necessarilly have to relate to action in the terms that you dont have to have good intentions in mind in order to produce a positive outcome.

Assignment six

the objection at hand is that humans cant possibly analyze each decision they make in accordance to the possible outcome. Trying to determine the level of happiness one would derive from a particular decision accordcing to Mills is not feasable. He talks about how mankind has learned from their mistakes in the past, and how that is really the only way people will learn. For example you wouldnt know how happy you would be after going to a party if youve never gone to one. It would be pretty hard to calculate how you would feel after doing something if youve never done it before. Experience is the foundation upon wich people make decisions in life.

Assignment five

Placing pleasures into categories is not an easy thing to do, but there are certain pleasures known as the loves, arts, musics, intellect, and so on. Then there are the “lower” pleasures like enjoying a food, using drugs, and sleeping. I feel you cant put one pleasure higher than the other because each person holds each pleasure in a dicfferent light. A pot head who lives at home finds ultimate pleasure in smoking weed and watching tv all day, otherwise why would he do it. He may feel differently about the so called “higher” pleasures than does an aristocratic couple who find pleasure in fine art and music. It doesnt mean that just because art and music is labeled as more ‘sophisticated, that it is also a “higher” pleasure. Only an individual can rank pleasures to their own liking, it is silly to try and make general guidelines.

Fourth Assignment

I believe that we are responsible for all of our actions, but when it comes to being morally responsible its a little different. Everything we do in life has a consequence be it negative, positive, or neutral. Utilitarianism suggests that all actions should be directed towards a positive outcome, but sometimes even with the right intentions in mind, a “morally” responsible decision could wind up having a negative outcome. For example if i were a cop volunteering my time to educte children about drugs and their abusive effects, but unknowingly turned them onto drugs i wouldhave un-intetially done a bad thing. The point is I didnt know i was going to do a bad thing, i had all the right intentions in mind when trying to educate the kids so i cant possibly be morally responsible for my actions. I do believe in a more logical overall sense I am indirectly responsible for hooking kids on drugs, but because I had a utilitarianism approach in the first place my reasoning was in the right place. Utilitarianism is the ideal approach to living life, but its silly to think that every “moral” action we partake in will have a positive result.

Assignment 3

I really dont think that an irrational god can be considered a moral god because morality comes from reason, and an unreasonable thinker couldnt possibly be moral in the sense that we know it as. By examining the origin of morality you would end up very close to reason. Reason is the reason we do what we do. The human ability to reason and logically think things proves that we are naturally rational beings. Now if we look at god and how he supposedly created man of his own image, it would only make sense that god is rational as well. By connecting the facts that we reason and therefore are rational, and the fact that god has to be rational as well, one could say that morality, or reason is the product of a rational thinker. An irrational god would mean that there is no reason for the things he does, so in turn if there were no reason there wouldnt be morality becasue people would do whatever they wanted with no remorse.

Second Assignment

If the idea of Divine command theory is in fact false, then one must seriously look at where their morals and beliefs come from. I believe that “good” and “bad” has been around even before humans. The fact that many people back in the day recieved their morals and belief systems from a god that determined what was, and was not good weighs heavily on DCT. If DCT is false than everything that people derived from “god” doesnt necessarily mean its true. People have naturally instilled morals that help guide the way we live. For instance, most people know that killing a child is wrong and evil, we didnt need a god to tell us that. Morality itself is independent from god so saying that something is good because god says its good cannot be true. If god did deem terrible things moral, i think human insticnt would contradict what they are being told, thus negating the fact that what god says is true, is. I dont think if DCT were false that it would have a large affect on religion because although religion is a guideline to how people live their lifes, and because the teachings come from god, cultures and people alike have already established a set of morals that they know is right. If it came to be that everything god says were false, i think most people who are religious or who follow guidelines set by religion, know that the essence of good and bad is all around us and that they can determine for themselves which way to go.

First Assignment

I think the difference in cultures between the Muslim world and America has a huge difference. The beliefs and morals that each culture possesses were all created for the same reason, to fulfill a happy and meaningfull life. Unfortunently the way in which these two cultures physically carry out their missions for morality aredrastically different. The Muslims beleive that the ultimate sacrifice one could make is to die for what they believe is right. Contrary to the Muslim beliefs, Americans often find doing well onto other people as a prime example of morality. I belive cultural relativism plays a large role in the differences in morals between countries. The Muslims suicide bomb buildings, and buses because thatis what there culture says is good or moral, so in turn they believe that what they are doing to other people is right. America was built upon freedom and the chance to do wahetever makes one happy but within the limits of upholding others right’s. Muslims seem to ignore American reasoning because of what their culture has instilled in them for so long.

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