UTILITARIANISM:
Utiltarianism was influenced by for main people,
1. Jeremy Bentham
2. John Stuart Mill
3. Epicurus
4. Peter Singer
Utilitarianism bases its ethical laws on the result or consequences of a moral action. In Utilitarianism, it is stated that the result or the consequences of an act is the real measure of whether it is good or bad. The theory of Utilitarianism emphasises ends over means and is based on practicality and utility and only acts in the greatest good for the greatest number.
Utilitarianism measures the pleasure or pain using the Hedonic Calculus. This is a collection of 7 different measures of pleasure or pain.
Animal Testing: Utilitarianism:
If we consider animal testing and look at the subject through the principals of Utilitarianism we can clearly see that measures 1-6 suggest that animal testing is unjustifiable as the concentration, period of time and the certainty of the suffering that over 150 million animals have to endure annually over rules the pleasure that 9 million humans face with a safe vaccine every year. Only in in measure 7 does one have the space to consider the balance between the certain pain of the animal and the greater good of the human race. From the Utilitarianism perspective, we can see that animal testing is not justified securely enough by the 7 formulations of the theory. If Utilitarianism does focus on the greatest pleasure for the most amount of lives, then the theory would suggest that there are other more effective ways to save human lives that would save many more than 9 million lives, rather than using 150 million plus lives of innocent animals. For example, irrigating arid lands thereby giving people water and food, would save hundreds of millions of lives and gives a far better return than the testing of chemicals on animals.
Utiltarianism was influenced by for main people,
1. Jeremy Bentham
2. John Stuart Mill
3. Epicurus
4. Peter Singer
Utilitarianism bases its ethical laws on the result or consequences of a moral action. In Utilitarianism, it is stated that the result or the consequences of an act is the real measure of whether it is good or bad. The theory of Utilitarianism emphasises ends over means and is based on practicality and utility and only acts in the greatest good for the greatest number.
Utilitarianism measures the pleasure or pain using the Hedonic Calculus. This is a collection of 7 different measures of pleasure or pain.
- Intensity - The amount of pleasure or pain produced by the action.
- Duration - How long the pleasure or pain will last.
- Certainty - How likely it is that your action will cause pleasure or pain.
- Extent - How far-reaching are the effects of your action.
- Remoteness - How likely it is for my action to cause pleasure or pain in the future.
- Richness - The intensity of that future pleasure or pain.
- The balance of good and bad or pleasure and pain.
Animal Testing: Utilitarianism:
If we consider animal testing and look at the subject through the principals of Utilitarianism we can clearly see that measures 1-6 suggest that animal testing is unjustifiable as the concentration, period of time and the certainty of the suffering that over 150 million animals have to endure annually over rules the pleasure that 9 million humans face with a safe vaccine every year. Only in in measure 7 does one have the space to consider the balance between the certain pain of the animal and the greater good of the human race. From the Utilitarianism perspective, we can see that animal testing is not justified securely enough by the 7 formulations of the theory. If Utilitarianism does focus on the greatest pleasure for the most amount of lives, then the theory would suggest that there are other more effective ways to save human lives that would save many more than 9 million lives, rather than using 150 million plus lives of innocent animals. For example, irrigating arid lands thereby giving people water and food, would save hundreds of millions of lives and gives a far better return than the testing of chemicals on animals.