Utilitarianism A Man Named Joe Is Dying Of Aids

Dan Simons Ethics Mill Paper 10/28/14 Utilitarianism The Topic that is have chosen is Topic #1 which is â€Å"What is utilitarianism? Suppose a man named Joe is dying of AIDS. He requests that his doctor prescribe him a lethal dose of medication in order to end his life now, before the worst suffering from AIDS begins. His family objects to this. How would Mill advise the doctor? What sort of questions would he ask? What facts would be relevant to evaluating the case and why would they be relevant?† in the following I will be presenting what utilitarianism is, how Mill would advise the doctor, and why he would advise the doctor, and what evidence would he use to persuade the doctor. Along with what the difference is between act and rule†¦show more content†¦Gay’s belief was that God had created humans to be happy, and that his will is that humans are to be happy. Bentham expanded upon these ideas. Bentham introduced the idea of the Hedonic Calculus, which is meant to determine the value of bot h pleasures, and pains. Mill then further defined utilitarianism by the quality of the utility rather than the quantity of it. He argued that intellectual (higher) pleasures where better than physical (lower) pleasures. Mill argues that pleasures aren’t to be considered happiness, and that they are a means to an end known as Virtue, which in the beginning wasn’t the end, however it can become so. The idea of ideal utilitarianism brought into light by G.E. Moore who goes into depth of what ideal utilitarianism means. G.E. Moore suggests that hedonistic utilitarianism was not ideal, however that there are ranging ideas, and values that could be maximized. Moore argues that is impossible for pleasure to be the only measure of what is ideal. These values although all come from different backgrounds, and have different theories argue that what benefits society are moral actions, which will cause happiness. Though some actions maybe considered immoral for some others they ar e considered moral such as mercy killing. Consider the following, a man by the name of Joe is dying of Aids, due to the severity of his condition he asked his doctor to give him a lethal dose of