The Utilitarianism Theory in Society Essay

A good action in the society is more purposeful when it produces the best results. The consequences of an action should be beneficial to a society. Utilitarianism prefers actions that have beneficial results ignoring their rules. A beneficial action should not destroy moral development in the society. This morality of an action is determined by the consequences of the action.

Societies require actions that will produce benefits and at the same time they should not be actions that go against the morals of the society. It is important for societies to define the nature of activities that are of benefit to the society. This is possible by developing rules that regulate actions that are developed by people in the society. These rules should increase benefits and control bad actions. Therefore, utilitarianism should lead to an increase in happiness of the society.

Utilitarianism can be described to belong to Chameleon philosophy. Like a chameleon, utilitarian action has to go for what is beneficial and protective. Changing with the environment and adopting the available actions to create happiness is valued in utilitarianism. Any approach that can increase happiness works for utilitarianism.

In utilitarianism, rules are necessary in the governing of the actions. One has to come up with the rules for the intended action. The rules are categorized to be either bad or good. In applying utilitarianism, a person has to choose the best rule whether it is good or bad. Utilitarianism only considers the results of an action. The best rule has to yield best results even when it is a rule that interferes with peoples’ rights.

Utilitarianism on calculating goods

Utilitarianism applies in the calculation of goods. This is because the concentration is normally on the consequences of the action. The good that comes with the action determines the utility of the action.

Utilitarianism on rights

Utilitarianism has an impact on rights. Rights refer to the benefits that one should enjoy without discrimination. When one denies another person his or her rights such cases normally leads to injustices. Utilitarianism only focuses on the happiness. When an action makes one person happy and denies another person his or her rights, it becomes a way of promoting injustices in the society. In utilitarianism, rights become less important.

The rules in utilitarian action are only designed to promote the benefits of that particular action. The rules do not consider the abuse of the rights by the action as long as the action remains beneficial to the society. The idea of utilitarianism rules ignoring rights normally puts the application of utilitarianism in people’s daily lives. Therefore, utilitarianism only values the consequences.