What is Utilitarianism as a Philosophical Concept? (Essay Sample)

Utilitarianism
Name
Institution
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism was first created in the nineteenth century. It was formulated to help legislators define which laws were morally best (Renouard 2011). In analyzing an issue using the utilitarian approach, an individual first has to identify the various courses of action available. The paper will examine the use of utilitarianism as a system for making ethical decisions in the society.
Most government agencies apply this approach to determining the morally best decisions for the citizens. For example, if an intelligence Unit gets information of a supposed bomb attack in a certain area and they capture a suspect. Forceful investigations and lethal means are used to get information from the suspect. The greater good of many people is prioritized from the life of one person (Albanese 2011). The approach used is a utilitarian approach. The police will put the life of one person at risks as to spare the greater number of people whose lives will be affected by the bomb attack. The utilitarian approach is usually done in a three-step method. First, is the identification of the various courses of action available? Secondly, it is determined who will be affected by which specific actions and the harms and benefits that will be derived from each action taken. Thirdly, the action that will cause less harm and greater benefits are chosen. In our case scenario above, the police identified the course of action to take in deriving useful information from the suspect, they then identified who will be affected by what particular action and identified that the citizens will probably be affected more if the bomb is to explode in a given region. They, therefore, decided that violent methods should be applied to protect the citizens even if it results in the loss of life of one person.
Another case that can explain utilitarianism is in the incident of a patient and doctor analysis. Dr. Philip is faced with a case of Jennifer, who has severe fibroids and has to have them removed. To do so. However, her womb would have to be terminated, and she will never be able to bare children. Jennifer is a young woman with a vibrant life ahead but the constant surgeries due to her illness have drifted her life in many ways. She confides to the doctor and hopes that she can be cured of the problem to continue with her normal life. The many surgeries she has undergone have left her frail and lifeless; a sickling character replaces the once joyful nature. Dr. Philip then applies the utilitarian approach, in this case; that is by creating happiness for the greater good of many people. Jennifer signs a consent form that legally mandates Dr. Philip to do what is medically advisable and right. He later performs the surgery and removes Jennifer’s womb. Did he do what was ethically right? Was it the right course of action for the patient? (Singer 2011) The doctor, in this case, analyzed some possible courses. He would either have to perform another surgery just to reduce the pain and let Jennifer continue undergoing the painful surgeries in future or Remove her womb and render her barren for her entire life.
The doctor, therefore, decided to save Jennifer the torture of undergoing another surgery and live a healthy life. A utilitarian approac...