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Rule Utilitarianism
Rule utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism that says an action is right as it conforms to a rule that leads to the greatest good, or that "the rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it is an instance". Philosophers Richard Brandt and Brad Hooker are major proponents of such an approach. For rule utilitarians, the correctness of a rule is determined by the amount of good it brings about when followed. In contrast, Act utilitarianism, act utilitarians judge an act in terms of the consequences of that act alone (such as stopping at a red light), rather than judging whether it faithfully adhered to the rule of which it was an instance (such as, "always stop at red lights"). Rule utilitarians argue that following rules that tend to lead to the greatest good will have better consequences overall than allowing exceptions to be made in individual instances, even if better consequences can be demonstrated in those instances. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utilitarianism
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the greatest good for the greatest number. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different characterizations, the basic idea that underpins them all is, in some sense, to maximize utility, which is often defined in terms of well-being or related concepts. For instance, Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, described ''utility'' as the capacity of actions or objects to produce benefits, such as pleasure, happiness, and good, or to prevent harm, such as pain and unhappiness, to those affected. Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism, which states that the consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong. Unlike other forms of consequentialism, such as egoism and altruism, egalitarian util ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John C
John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Epistle of John, often shortened to 2 John * Third Epistle of John, often shortened to 3 John People * John the Baptist (died ), regarded as a prophet and the forerunner of Jesus Christ * John the Apostle (died ), one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ * John the Evangelist, assigned author of the Fourth Gospel, once identified with the Apostle * John of Patmos, also known as John the Divine or John the Revelator, the author of the Book of Revelation, once identified with the Apostle * John the Presbyter, a figure either identified with or distinguished from the Apostle, the Evangelist and John of Patmos Other people with the given name Religious figures * John, father of Andrew the Apostle and Saint Peter * Pope John ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
:Category:Thought Experiments In Ethics
{{Commons Ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ... Concepts in ethics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rule Egoism
Rule egoism is the doctrine under which an individual evaluates the optimal set of rules based on whether conformity to those rules would bring the most benefit to themselves. An action, therefore, is right if it promotes one's welfare at least as well as any alternative rule available to them. It is associated with foundational egoism, which maintains that normative factors must be grounded in consideration of the agent's well-being - something that rule egoism does but in a way that avoids factoral egoism. Development Although it is claimed that Thomas Hobbes is a rule-egoist, the term "rule egoism" was first coined by Richard Brandt in his work "Rationality, Egoism, and Morality, where it was briefly mentioned. See also * Enlightened self-interest * Ethical egoism * Psychological egoism * Rational egoism * Rule utilitarianism * Virtue ethics Virtue ethics (also aretaic ethics, from Greek []) is a philosophical approach that treats virtue and moral character, character as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proportionalism
Proportionalism is an ethical theory that lies between consequential theories and deontological theories. Consequential theories, like utilitarianism, say that an action is right or wrong, depending on the consequences it produces, but deontological theories, such as Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative, say that actions are either intrinsically right or intrinsically wrong. Proportionalist theories like rule utilitarianism, however, say that it is never right to go against a principle unless a proportionate reason would justify it. In the 1960s, proportionalism was a consequentialist attempt to develop natural law, a principally Roman Catholic teleological theory most strongly associated with the 13th-century scholastic theologian Thomas Aquinas, but also found in Church Fathers such as Maximus the Confessor and John of Damascus, as well as early pagan schools of philosophy such as Stoicism. The moral guidelines set down by Roman Catholic magisterial teachings of Natura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prima Facie Right
A ''prima facie'' right is a right that can be outweighed by other considerations. It stands in contrast with absolute rights, which cannot be outweighed by anything. Some authors consider an absolute right as a ''prima facie'' right, but one that cannot be outweighed in any possible situation. It is also maintained that all men always have a ''prima facie'' rights to liberty, security, and life but they do not constitute actual rights if there are stronger ''prima facie'' rights or moral considerations that supervene. An act may also be viewed as ''prima facie'' right but viewed in others as ''prima facie'' wrong. See also *Natural and legal rights *Political ethics * ''Prima facie'' *Proportionalism *Situational ethics Situational ethics or situation ethics takes into account ''only'' the particular context of an act when evaluating it ethically, rather than judging it only according to absolute moral standards. With the intent to have a fair basis for judgmen ... References ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harm Principle
The harm principle holds that the actions of individuals should be limited only to prevent harm to other individuals. John Stuart Mill articulated the principle in the 1859 essay '' On Liberty'', where he argued that "The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others." An equivalent was earlier stated in France's '' Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen'' of 1789 as, "Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law." It finds earlier expression in Thomas Jefferson's 1785 " Notes on the State of Virginia", Query 17 (Religion) in which he writes, "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others." Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guideline
A guideline is a statement by which to determine a course of action. It aims to streamline particular processes according to a set routine or sound practice. They may be issued by and used by any organization (governmental or private) to make the actions of its employees or divisions more predictable, and presumably of higher quality. A guideline is similar to a rule, but are legally less binding as justified deviations are possible. List of guidelines Examples of guidelines are: * Code of practice * EASE Guidelines for Authors and Translators of Scientific Articles * Federal Sentencing Guidelines * Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office * Medical guidelines * Publicly Available Specification A Publicly Available Specification or PAS is a standardization document that closely resembles a formal standard in structure and format but which has a different development model. The objective of a Publicly Available Specification is to speed up ... * Programmi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satisfice
Satisficing is a decision-making strategy or cognitive heuristic that entails searching through the available alternatives until an acceptability threshold is met, without necessarily maximizing any specific objective. The term ''satisficing'', a portmanteau of ''satisfy'' and ''suffice'', was introduced by Herbert A. Simon in 1956, although the concept was first posited in his 1947 book ''Administrative Behavior''. Simon used satisficing to explain the behavior of decision makers under circumstances in which an optimal solution cannot be determined. He maintained that many natural problems are characterized by computational intractability or a lack of information, both of which preclude the use of mathematical optimization procedures. He observed in his Nobel Prize in Economics speech that "decision makers can satisfice either by finding optimum solutions for a simplified world, or by finding satisfactory solutions for a more realistic world. Neither approach, in general, dominate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rational Agents
Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reason. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do, or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an ability, as in a rational animal, to a psychological process, like reasoning, to mental states, such as beliefs and intentions, or to persons who possess these other forms of rationality. A thing that lacks rationality is either ''arational'', if it is outside the domain of rational evaluation, or '' irrational'', if it belongs to this domain but does not fulfill its standards. There are many discussions about the essential features shared by all forms of rationality. According to reason-responsiveness accounts, to be rational is to be responsive to reasons. For example, dark clouds are a reason for taking an umbrella, which is why it is rational for an agent to do so in response. An important rival to this approach are coherence-base ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Lyons (philosopher)
David Lyons (born February 6, 1935) is an American moral, political and legal philosopher who is emeritus professor of philosophy and of law at Boston University after having spent much of his career at Cornell University where he held joint appointment in the College and Arts and Sciences and School of Law. Education and career Lyons earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University, where he studied under John Rawls. Lyons was one of the faculty members in the Susan Linn Sage School of Philosophy within the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences, joining it in 1964. Later he obtained a joint appointment with Cornell University School of Law. He also had a stint as chair of the Susan Linn Sage School (operationally the chair of the philosophy department). He taught at Cornell until 1995, when he joined the Boston University faculty. His former students include David O. Brink. Philosophical work Lyons has had a lengthy career as a moral and legal philosophe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two-level Utilitarianism
Two-level utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics according to which a person's moral decisions should be based on a set of moral rules, except in certain rare situations where it is more appropriate to engage in a 'critical' level of moral reasoning. The theory was initially developed by R. M. Hare. Consequentialists believe that an action is right if it produces the best possible state of affairs. Traditional utilitarianism ( act utilitarianism) treats this as a claim that people should try to ensure that their actions maximizes the positive outcome for sentient beings. Two-level utilitarianism is a synthesis of the opposing doctrines of act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism states that in all cases the morally right action is the one which produces the most well-being, whereas rule utilitarianism states that the morally right action is the one that is in accordance with a moral rule whose general observance would create the most well-being. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
