Utilitarianism Essays (1230 words) - Utilitarianism,

Utilitarianism When faced with a moral dilemma, utilitarianism identifies the appropriate considerations, but offers no realistic way to gather the necessary information to make the required calculations. This lack of information is a problem both in evaluating the welfare issues and inevaluating the consequentialist issues which utilitarianism requires be weighed when making moral decisions. Utilitarianism attempts to solve both of these difficulties by appealing to experience; however, no method of reconciling an individual decision with the rules of experience is suggested, and no relative weights are assigned to the various considerations. In deciding whether or not to torture a terrorist who has planted a bomb in New York City, a utilitarian must evaluate both the overall welfare of the people involved or effected by the action taken, and the consequences of the action taken. To calculate the welfare of the people involved in or effected by an action, utilitarianism requires that all individuals be considered equally. Quantitative utilitarians would weigh the pleasure and pain which would be caused by the bomb exploding against the pleasure and pain that would be caused by torturing the terrorist. Then, the amounts would be summed and compared. The problem with this method is that it is impossible to know beforehand how much pain the bomb exploding or how much pain would be caused by the torture would cause. Utilitarianism offers no practical way to make the interpersonal comparison of utility necessary to compare the pains. In the case of the bomb exploding, it at least seems highly probable that the bomb exploding would cause a greater amount of pain, at least in the present. This probability suffices for a quantitative utilitarian, but it does not account for the consequences, which create an entirely different problem, which will be discussed below. The probability also does not hold for Mill's utilitarianism. Mill's Utilitarianism insists on qualitative utilitarianism, which requires that one consider not only the amount of pain or pleasure, but also the quality of such pain and pleasure. Mill suggests that to distinguish between different pains and pleasures we should ask people who have experienced both types which is more pleasurable or more painful. This solution does not work for the question of torture compared to death in an explosion. There is no one who has experienced both, therefore, there is no one who can be consulted. Even if we agree that the pain caused by the number of deaths in the explosion is greater than the pain of the terrorist being tortured, this assessment only accounts for the welfare half of the utilitarian's considerations. Furthermore, one has no way to measure how much more pain is caused by allowing the bomb to explode than by torturing the terrorist. After settling the issues surrounding the welfare, a utilitarian must also consider the consequences of an action. In weighing the consequences, there are two important considerations. The first, which is especially important to objectivist Utilitarianism, is which people will be killed. The second is the precedent that will be set by the action. Unfortunately for the decision-maker, the information necessary to make either of these calculations is unavailable. There is no way to determine which people will be killed and weigh whether their deaths would be good for society. Utilitarianism requires that one compare the good that the people would do for society with the harm they would do society if they were not killed. For example, if a young Adolf Hitler were in the building, it might do more good for society to allow the building to explode. Unfortunately for an individual attempting to use Utilitarianism to make for decisions, there is no way to know beforehand what a person will do. Furthermore, without even knowing which building the bomb is in, there is no way to predict which people will surely be in the building. A subjectivist utilitarian would dismiss this consideration and would examine only what a rational person would consider to be the consequence; however, even the subjectivist utilitarian must face the question of precedent setting. Utilitarianism considers justice and humane treatment to be good for society as a whole and therefore instrumentally good as a means to promoting happiness. Utilitarianism considers precedent to be important, but does not offer any method of determining exceptions. It is impossible to determine how much effect on precedent any given isolated action will have. In the case of determining whether or not to torture the terrorist, one must consider whether it is good for society to allow torture to be used as a method of gaining information. If

The Great Gatsby Critical Lens Essays

The Great Gatsby Critical Lens Essays The Great Gatsby Critical Lens Essay The Great Gatsby Critical Lens Essay Essay Topic: Short Stories of F Scott Fitzgerald Throughout history information has been passed down through time from generation to generation. Literature is one of the most important aspect of a peoples’ culture that is passed down and inherited. Whether it be myths, legends, cooking recipes, plays, short stories and so on and so forth, writings have been shared through both oral traditions and written records. It is not long before these pieces of literature become the embodiment of that nation. The Russian author, Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, once said â€Å"Literature transmits unquestionable condensed experience†¦from generation to generation. In this way, literature becomes the living memory of a nation†. He is correct in saying this and his quote can be proven true through the use of characterization and setting in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby sets its scene in the Long Island region of New York during the summer of 1922. The time period that this story takes place in is pivotal to how the story unfolds and why the course of events happen in the manner in which they do. The 1920s is known in the United States as a decade of incredible economic success. In this novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald the story focuses on the negative and less known aspects of this era. With the end of the first World war only a few years past in 1918, there was a dizzying and staggering rise of the stock market that led to a sudden and sustained increase in the nation’s wealth. A new found sense of materialism was discovered as people began to spend and consume at unprecedented levels. Fitzgerald provides an accurate judge of American character in The Great Gatsby during the 1920s. His book is a perceptive and astute account of the time in which he obviously studied and then successfully captured the angst of society drama and the sadness of lost love and the promise that lurks just beneath the roar of the twenties. This novel is known the world over today as an accessible door into the history of that time period. Like Solzhenitsyn said â€Å"†¦literature becomes the living memory of a nation† and so is the case with The Great Gatsby. Characterization in the novel is vital when attempting to understand the complex personalities of the characters in the book. In The Great Gatsby social status can be considered to be a defining quality by the characters in the book. It naturally becomes a means by which we the reader come to define the characters. Fitzgerald’s characters develop along the lines of self-indulgence, ignorance, and complete disregard for the real world in which they do not and do not want to belong or even acknowledge. The overarching cynicism of the characters, the empty pursuit of happiness that they tried to achieve, and the destruction of the idea of the â€Å"American dream† are just some of the things that occurred in this time period in the United States. While most people deem the 1920s as prosperous and booming and leave it at that, Fitzgerald portrays it as an era of social and moral decimation in which all his characters were money hungry, greedy, and recklessly ignorant. Readers who will look back on The Great Gatsby in hopes of acquiring insight into that time in history will discover that our nation appeared to be one thing on the surface but another one entirely if one dug deep enough. Overall The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a prime example of a book that fully embodies a decade’s worth of history. It paints an accurate picture of who people really were back then and how little they really cared about things that were bigger then the next party they planned to attend. Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was right when he said that â€Å"literature transmits unquestionable condensed experience†¦from generation to generation. In this way, literature becomes the living memory of a nation†. There are an abundance of examples given to the reader of this book that supports this conclusion. Overall, The Great Gatsby is a story told in a point of view that brings a realistic feel to the book and provides a clearer and accurate understanding of America’s past.

Technology management db4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Technology management db4 - Essay Example The requirements planning phase merges elements of the system analysis and planning phases of SDLC – Systems Development Life Cycle. Under the user design phase, users develop prototypes and models, which signify all system processes, outputs and inputs (Elliott, 2004). The construction phase centers on application and program development task akin to SDLC. Finally, the cutover phase is similar to the last tasks in the SDLC execution phase (Elliott, 2004). In object-oriented analysis and design, the processes include (1) planning, (2) testing implementation and documenting and (3) deployment and maintenance. This is best carried out in an incremental and iterative way (Elliott, 2004). Iteration through iteration, the outputs of OOAD proceedings, design models for OOD and analysis models for OOA evolve continuously and are refined and driven by key factors such as risks and business values (Elliott, 2004). Business process engineering begins with a high-level measurement of a firm’s mission, goals and client needs (Ponzi & Koenig, 2002). Basic queries are asked, like "Does the mission require redefinition? Are the strategic goals focused on the mission? Who are the clients?" This is because a firm might find itself working on questionable assumptions. The summarized process of business process engineering is identifying processes, reviewing updates, designing and testing (Ponzi & Koenig,