Mill’s Utilitarianism/Rule Utilitarianism
Explain the theory in detail. Imagine that your reader has no prior familiarity with this particular topic or philosophy in general.
Ethical Problem – Choose one applied ethical problem. Suggested topics include those covered in our readings, such as abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, or animal rights. Other topics not listed here or discussed in our textbook may also be used, but any such “outside” topics will require my prior approval. Explain this ethical problem in detail. Again, assume your reader has familiarity with this topic, so you will need to provide any relevant context (social/political/cultural/etc.) and clearly explain any key concepts associated with it.
Thesis: Once you’ve selected both of the previous topics, you should begin developing a particular thesis. You will be using the values and principles of your chosen moral theory to provide a moral analysis of the ethical problem that you’ve selected. Here is a rough example of the type of thesis I have in mind: “The Ethics of Care, despite its origin as a feminist viewpoint on morality, is committed to a form of strong opposition to abortion, since a human fetus exists in a state of total dependence on at least one of its biological parents.”
Sample Solution
Utilitarianism, by John Stuart Mill, is an essay written to provide support for the value of utilitarianism as a moral theory, and to respond to misconceptions about it. Mill defines utilitarianism as a theory based on the principle that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” Mill defines happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain. Mill argues that utilitarianism coincides with “natural” sentiments that originate from humans` social nature. Therefore, if society were to embrace utilitarianism as an ethic, people would naturally internalize these standards as morally binding.
