Anti Utilitarianism

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Utilitarianism Generally, people in the world are categorized into two: the good and the bad. People's morality are usually measured with how they act based on their intentions, decide based on how it would benefit them, and act either in a proper or improper way. That is why, various scholars from different generations have created concepts with regard morality. One of these concepts is utilitarianism. In line with this assertion, this paper will attempt to explain the theory of act - utilitarianism. Furthermore, this paper will describe why Peter Singer thinks affluent Westerners should change how they live their lives, and also present and explain some reasons for thinking that utilitarianism is a flawed theory of morality. Theory of…show more content…
Basically, Peter Singer thinks affluent Westerners should change how they live their lives because to him, if they live comfortably yet others die because of hunger, then there is something wrong with these Westerners' behavior (BBC). Utilitarianism implicitly structures Singer's argument in a way that he believes that it is in the power of the people to prevent something bad from happening (BBC). This clearly signifies a feature of utilitarianism – people should do the best that they can for the welfare of everybody. Based on Singer's argument, he can be regarded as a rule authoritarian in that he determines the correctness of his duty to give by the amount of good it brings. To Singer, humanity has the duty to reduce not only poverty but also death, simply because people have the ability to do so (BBC). Singer could also be reacted as an act-utilitarian because he determines his actions on maximizing the greater good especially those who suffer from…show more content…
As a matter of fact, it is not the only thing that matters. Based on the above discussion, one can regard utilitarianism to be impractical. It is impractical in the sense that a person cannot be expected to know all of the possible consequences of his actions. This somehow impugns Singer's conclusion because others would think that it would be an unnecessary burden for their part to change the way they live their lives just to be able to give to the less fortunate. While it is true that it is a humane act to give to those who are in need, it would limit people's freedom to act and worse, it would require people to act against their best interest (BBC). The problems I have pointed out for utilitarianism is practical because basically, people have their own intrinsic moral value as persons. Thus, when you consider Singer's argument, it may be too demanding and may reach the extent that people are required not to favor the moral concerns they have so that they can prioritize others’ moral values

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