Utilitarianism. Identify the main problems of Utilitarianism. To what extent do these make Utilitarianism unacceptable?

)What are the advantages of Utilitarianism? Jeremy Bentham, born 1748 was 'an extremely shy and sensitive person, who always felt insecure in the company of strangers.'1 In matters of religion, he was an atheist and he opposed to both Monarchy inherited upper class. He was interested with the social conditions of his day. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, however he changed his course halfway through his studies saying he was 'going to set out to reform it into the perfect system.' The idea he based this aim on was the 'Principle of Utility.' He defined this is the action that is right or creates the greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest amount of people. Happiness or pleasure to Bentham is maximum pleasure and minimum pain or suffering. He said that whatever increased or led to pleasure is morally good and whatever led to pain or the decrease of pleasure is morally bad. Bentham used something called the Hedonic Calculus to measure the amount of pleasure and pain in an action. This concerned intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent. However, it is impossible to calculate the pleasure or pain an action brings Bentham's use of the Hedonic Calculus was no longer used. Bentham failed to realise that his theory is only the basis of Utilitarianism and that his idea has many faults, for example, he did not make any distinctions

  • Word count: 1830
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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The Teleological Argument

The Teleological Argument The word 'teleological' comes from the Greek word 'telos' which means 'end' or 'purpose'. The teleological argument is also known as the design argument, which is an a posteriori argument because it is an argument based on external evidence. The argument makes the basic assumptions that there is order, purpose and regularity in the universe and that all things function to fulfil a specific purpose. The argument further states that the complexity of the universe shows evidence of design and such design implies a designer, and therefore the designer of the universe is God. There are two aspects of the teleological argument and they are design qua regularity and design qua purpose. Design Qua Regularity looks at design in terms of order and regularity in the universe. Those who support this argument think that the order and regularity in the universe is the evidence, which shows that there is a designer at work. One of supporters of this aspect of the argument was St Thomas Aquinas. He stated that everything works to some purpose or other and lifeless objects that have no rational powers must be directed to this purpose by some external power. For example, an arrow, which is directed by the archer. Aquinas then concluded, that therefore some intelligent beings exists by whom all natural things are directed to their purpose and this being Aquinas

  • Word count: 942
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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What is Abortion?

Abortion Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent life. Abortions must be conducted before the end off six months, or the fetus will leave the womb and it would be considered a premature birth. There are two types of abortions. One is spontaneous and the other is induced. If the fetus ways less than 18oz or is less than 20 weeks into the pregnancy, it is usually considered an abortion. Spontaneous abortions are known by another name, miscarriages. These usually occur during the first three months of pregnancy. It is estimated that 25% of all pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion. The second form of abortion is induced abortion. This is the deliberate termination of the fetus. There are four main types of induced abortions. The first takes place up to 12 weeks. It is called vacuum aspiration. This is where a tube attached to a vacuum is inserted into the uterus and sucks out the embryo and all other material. The second type takes place after the 15th week and is called saline infusion. Here, the doctors replace a little fluid with a salt solution. This causes the uterus to contract. The fetus is then expelled. The third type is a hysterotomy. This is a similar procedure to a cesarean section. The only difference is, in this operation, is that the cut is smaller and lower. The fourth type is available in the first fifty

  • Word count: 734
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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What is meant by meta-ethics?

January 2002 Foundation a) What is meant by meta-ethics Ethics is the study of moral standards and conduct. For this reason, the study of ethics is also often called "moral philosophy," meaning "What is good?" "What is bad" etc. However, Meta-ethics is the study of this moral language and of what different people mean when they use ethical terminology. There are many accepted schools of thought that give definitions of ethical language. Meta-ethics is the study of how these theories account for moral language. Take, for example, Ethical Naturalism; this theory takes it origins from the teachings of Aristotle. Aristotle believed that everything in the universe has a purpose, which he called its 'final cause,' for which it has been designed. In fulfilling this purpose things can achieve 'goodness.' From this Ethical naturalists believe that 'good' can be explained in terms of features of the natural world. However, ethical non-naturalists believe that you cannot determine goodness in terms of natural phenomena. They believe that goodness is simply a term we use to describe something, not something which can be discovered within the nature of something. To ethical non-naturalists, ethical statements can be reduced to non-ethical ones, without denying that they are meaningful. G.E Moore accused ethical naturalists as committing what he called the 'naturalistic fallacy;'

  • Word count: 932
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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