ALook Into Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill AndThe Test by WhichTo Create Carry Out and Revise Laws
... Laws hold people, who might otherwise be chaotic, in line and help in the overall wellbeing of any great civilization. ... Hitler used his position of power to make unreasoned (for the most part, he had his methods which suited him and him alone) judgements and laws with, often, ill results. ... Simply making laws without any form of process would be folly. A society in which laws were simply created, forgoing any evaluative process, would be left with a deplorable mess of useless, irrelevant laws. ... Without any system to test, evaluate, and produce laws, a chaotic mockery of a good law making society would be established, to the detriment of Moles 3 everyone found within that society. ... It is for this reason that steps should be taken to ensure that laws are made through the use of some form of test. A guide must be made to ensure the accountability of laws, in order to prevent arbitrary laws from coming into existence. The purpose of this essay will be to explore a system in which to create and evaluate laws. The system in which I will focus upon will be that of Utilitarianism. This type of philosophical bent was, most notably, explored by John Stuart Mill, who will share a large portion of this essay. In this essay I will describe the nature of utilitarianism, as well as a brief history of its origins and influence upon philosophical movements and United States policies. Also, I will include the significance that John Stuart Mill played in participating within the utilitarian movement and, likewise, his influence within the field of law and evaluative processes. Finally, combining the ideas of both Utilitarianism and Mill, a test will be constructed to better approach decisions in law. This essay hopes to discover the possible roles that Utilitarianism has within the law making process. ... Its roots date back to the 18th and 19th century in the works of such philosophers as David Hume, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism derived its name from “The Principle of Utility. ... This principle has been the guiding light of the utilitarian movement, and helped to mold utilitarianism throughout its humble beginnings. Along with the Principle of Utility are three main tenets to Utilitarianism: consequences, happiness, and equality. Consequences, in Utilitarianism, are both foreseeable and a realistic way of evaluating whether or not something is morally wrong. ... The Tenet of Happiness within Utilitarianism says that one should evaluate the net happiness from the foreseeable consequences. ... Utilitarianism has influenced today’s society greatly. ... Because Utilitarianism focuses on the equality of the individual, and that all people should be considered equally in regards to the measure of pain or pleasure experienced, many civil rights movements were spurred by Utilitarian ideals. In fact, it can be said that Utilitarianism was at the forefront of many major social reforms. ... Even now, Utilitarian thinkers are pointing out the flaws within society that they believe are amoral. ... By expressing the intolerance towards non-human animals Singer points out the hypocrisy in which today’s society exists. ... Utilitarianism has certainly proven itself as a very valuable process within today’s society and the way in which laws are influenced. Utilitarianism provides a very simple strategy to deciding upon tough dilemmas. ... However, there are many who would disagree with Utilitarianism even on the fundamental level. In the course of time that Utilitarianism has been influential, there have been other philosophical thinkers that have attacked Utilitarianism. ... There are not many people that would trust that classical interpretation of Utilitarianism. Another, more powerful rebuttal is that the objection did not take into full account all of the possible consequences. ... Now let us create “Town B. ... John Stuart Mill has been instrumental in bringing Utilitarianism to the foreground of Utilitarianism. Mill was born in London on May 20th, 1806, and was the oldest son of James Mill. John Stuart Mill’s entire education was performed by his father. Mill’s father strenuously educated Mill into becoming a brilliant thinker. Upon reading Bentham, Mill stated that, “…[Bentham] gave unity to my conception of things. I now had opinions; a creed, a doctrine, a philosophy; in one among the best senses of the word, a religion; the inculcation and diffusion of which could be made the principle outward purpose of a life” (“John Stuart Mill” 1).