What Makes An Action Right Essay - 2250 Words

What makes an action right? What constitutes a morally right action? These are seemingly very basic questions, but they are tough to answer. Answers to these questions are the foundations of several ethical theories from philosophers such as John Stewart Mill, Aristotle, and Immanuel Kant. The concept of utilitarianism is founded on Mill’s monistic view of reality—there is one thing that is regarded to be good, i.e. pleasure. Pleasure is defined to be the absence of pain, and Mill equates pleasure with happiness. According to him: The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest-Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness are intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure. (Mill, 1861/2009, p. 158) An action is right if it aims for the good, producing the greatest good for the greatest number. It assumed that the human beings desire happiness; and from that desire comes the conclusion that moral judgments should be made looking at the consequences of the action. Virtue Ethics is the ethical theory developed by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. According to him, happiness is the only end in itself. It is unlike Mill’s view of happiness as mere pleasure. For Aristotle, happiness is a state of mind achieved only through virtuous, and in turn, moral actions. A morally rightShow MoreRelatedEthics1435 Words   |  6 Pagescriteria for determining what is ethically right or wrong, and  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   c) analyze the grounds or reasons we have for holding them to be correct.Those concerned exclusively with telling us what is right or wrong, good or bad, in matters of human conduct may be termed moralists. While philosophers have sometimes been mora lists, as  philosophers  their primary concern is not so much to provide moral prescriptions as it is  to explain why what we consider to be right or good is right or good. To do soRead MoreIn Intro to Ethics, we have discussed each moral theory in the context of how the theories dealt1000 Words   |  4 PagesIn Intro to Ethics, we have discussed each moral theory in the context of how the theories dealt with the theory of right conduct and with the deontic status the action had. When we looked at how each theory we talked about dealt with deontic status, we looked at how the actions were right or wrong. The main theories we looked at this semester that dealt with right conduct were utilitarianism, Kant’s moral theory, and virtue ethics. Although each of these moral theories has its own flaws, I believeRead MoreMorality And The Moral Theories1137 Words   |  5 Pagesthe morality of an action or behavior depends entirely on the result of that action and not the beha vior or action itself. This is phrase that can be viewed different by proponent of different moral theories. A consequentialist theorist will agree with this phrase. For example, if one tells a lie to save the other person from grief, the action of telling the eye is viewed as good. Another example is whereby a person kills the other in order to save the others. The two actions though they may be viewedRead MoreThe Moral Nature Of An Action1482 Words   |  6 Pagesassessing the moral permissibility of an action we must ask ourselves what is it that makes such an action licit and the reasons why we believe that this is the case. A common approach in ethics when determining the moral nature of an act, is to stipulate its ability to bring about goodness. Although there is wide disagreement regarding what exactly are the essential features of goodness, a problematic question that arises from the relationship between the good, actions and their nature is whether performingRead MoreNormative Ethics And Ethical Ethics1586 Words   |  7 PagesNormative ethics is a study that tries to determine which things are good, which actions are right, which motives are worthy and which character traits are virtues. In other words, normative ethics is a philosophy about what we should morally do. Metaethics is a theory about normative ethics which is conce rned about what exactly do normative ethics are claiming. This is a philosophy about the nature of moral claims, moral judgements and moral disagreements made by the normative ethics. Many theologiansRead MoreThe Best Fit890 Words   |  4 PagesThe Best Fit Aristotle one of the best philosopher in the third century BCE explained what a virtuous act was and how we could get it. Immanuel Kant was one of the best philosophers in the 17th century, and created the Categorical Imperative, and John Stuart Mill was one of the best philosopher on the 18th century, and created The Utilitarianism ethical system, but which one made the best moral theory that best fits our culture and community? As we have seen in Chapter 7, ethics differs from cultureRead MoreMoral Relativism : Moral, Relativism, And Moral Appraiser Relativism890 Words   |  4 PagesRelativism is the belief that the way actions are judged is relative to culture. Without something to reference an action to, or a set of standards to determine what is right and what is wrong, we would have no way of evaluating actions. It makes no sense to say that a dog is absolutely and universally large. We can only say that it may be large when compared to a Chihuahua or when compared to a Great Dane. In this same respect, it makes no sense to say that an action is absolutely, universally wrongRead MoreUtilitarian s Vs. Deontologists1593 Words   |  7 Pagesof the conception of right action, deontologists and utilitarian’s had opposing views on what makes an action just. I argue that Bentham’s view of determining right action, that an action is right if it has the tendency to maximize pleasure, is the optimal one because we are not able to determine the motivations of others with absolute certainty. Deontologists believed that good actions are bad without good will, and that motivation only mattered in determining a right action, not the outcome. OppositelyRead MoreWhat Makes A Human Being A Person?937 Words   |  4 Pagesdefinitions of what makes a human being a person. Some say that a human can only be a person when they are able to think, communicate, and solve complex problems. The problem with that, is that it means children are only human beings and not a person. A human is a person when they have a heart, therefore a fetus is a person the third week after contraception. What makes a human being a person plays a role in what is morally right and wrong. In today’s society there are many opinions on what is consideredRead MoreA Standard Of Proper Conduct Essay1620 Words   |  7 Pageswhich humans have written the language for what is deemed â€Å"moral†. Morality is defined as principles that dictate right and wrong behavior or actions and how that relates to human character. However, what is still not answered is what exactly these principles are, and how humans are supposed to carry out said principles. Two philosophers, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill, outline these guiding principles to determine the difference between what is morally right versus wrong by detailing objective answers