Friday, October 9, 2015
Greatest Happiness Principle
During Wednesday’s symposium one of the
discussions brought up was Mill’s greatest happiness principle. This principle
states that actions are morally good in as much as they produce the greatest
amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people. At first, when I was
learning about this I thought it sounded great and was finally something I
agreed with. It made me realize that most of the time whenever I decide
something one of the questions I ask myself is, "Is this action going to
affect other people’s happiness?" Which is exactly what this principle
means. However, the example of the trolley problem was also mentioned and the
question was asked: "Even if there were five people on one side and one on
the other what if the one was a baby?” What determines the greatest amount of
people? Quantity or quality? If you killed those random five people yes that
would definitely affect more people because it is a bigger number, but wouldn’t
killing a baby as well? This question has stumped me ever since I heard it. I
still don’t know the right answer. Sometimes I think killing the five people
and saving the baby would be correct because it would create the greatest
amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people. I believe a baby’s death
is far sadder and mourned for because it was only a baby. He or she didn’t even
get the chance to live their life. But then I think that those five people’s
lives mattered too. They may not have been as young but they still had loved
ones or were cared for just as much as the baby. All in all, I believe there is
not a right or wrong answer; it is just a matter of opinion.
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For this instance, I think the utilitarian calculus would have to be performed to know exactly what the right thing to do would be. You would have to evaluate who the people are on the track as well as the number of people associated with these people to get an actual number of those who will be deprived of their happiness. For example, if the baby in this situation was someone who had a lot aunts, uncles, cousins, and other members of the family who would be distraught about the death, then I would say that killing five over the baby is the better decision. But, if the five people on the other track are celebrities that are very famous, then the decision to kill the baby would be better because more than likely their fans will outnumber the amount of relatives the baby had. This would mean that in order to achieve the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people would be to kill the baby.
ReplyDeleteI feel you brought up a great point in considering what would determine the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people: quantity or quality. Immediately, one may deduce that saving five people is preferable to the one, but what if the five people were really bad people and the one is a really good person? It seems as if each case with the trolley problem depends on whose lives are being saved or sacrificed and who has to make the decision. Just as already mentioned, the decision is based on one’s opinion of what would produce the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people and the circumstances of the situation.
ReplyDeleteAndrea makes a good point in defining the internal morals of the 5 people about to die. Determining the greatest good in a life or death scenario is dependent on those who are about to be killed but also the amount of time in which an individual has before the others are put to death. The utilitarian calculus really cannot be performed in the case of the trolley for there is not enough time for the person at the switch to completely analyze and justify the morals of each person. Furthermore, for utilitarian calculus what gives an individual the right to judge the moral qualities of others in a life or death situation. How do we know that person responsible for the lives of others is perfectly moral and just in his/her analysis of other peoples morals.
ReplyDeleteThe trolley situation for this philosophy can be quite hard to pick an answer because it depends on so many variables. For instance, the general population show more affection and emotion towards a baby rather than a person who is the same age or older than themselves. With that being the case it is not fair to the five people who may be older that you treat the baby with way more favoritism in your decision. However, with the Greatest Happiness Principle it may also depend on the person(s) on each side of the track just as Tayler pointed out.
ReplyDeleteThe trolley situation is a tricky situation especially looking at it from Mill's point of view. It is true does his principle many quantity over quality? I believe it depends on the situation, because truth be told if a certain person is killed their death can cause the most pain to the greatest amount of people. But with Mill we also have to look at the consequences of our actions the baby could grow up to be a killer but he could also grow up to be the next Gandhi, but Mill would have to base his decision off past situations that have happened which would most likely prompt him to choose the 5 people over the baby due to being able to predict the outcome better than a baby.
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