Negative Utilitarianism Essay Example for Free

Negative Utilitarianism Essay Most utilitarian theories deal with producing the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people. Negative utilitarianism (NU) requires us to promote the least amount of evil or harm, or to prevent the greatest amount of suffering for the greatest number. Proponents like Karl Popper, Christoph Fehige and Clark Wolf argue that this is a more effective ethical formula, since, they contend, the greatest harms are more consequential than the greatest goods. Karl Popper also referred to an epistemological argument: â€Å"It adds to clarity in the fields of ethics, if we formulate our demands negatively, i. e., if we demand the elimination of suffering rather than the promotion of happiness. † (Karl R. Popper,1945) Most forms of utilitarianism hold that we ought to do that which maximises the good and minimises the bad. There is some disagreement about what the good and the bad are whether the good is people being happy and the bad is people being unhappy, or the good is people getting what they want and the bad is people not getting what they want, or whateverbut most utilitarians agree that whatever the good and the bad are, we ought to bring about as much of the former and as little of the latter as is possible. Negative utilitarians disagree. Negative utilitarians are concerned only with minimising the bad. They dont think we ought to maximise the good and minimise the bad, and that when we must choose between the two we must weigh the difference that we can make to the one against the difference that we can make to the other; rather, negative utilitarians hold just that we ought to minimise the bad, that we ought to alleviate suffering as far as we are able to do so. Suppose that I have a choice to make: I can either make the happiest man in the world even happier than he already is, or I can alleviate some of the suffering of the unhappiest man in the world. Suppose further that the difference that I can make to the happy man is much greater than the difference that I can make to the unhappy man. Most utilitarians would say that in this case I ought to help the happy man. As I can make a greater difference to the life of the happy man than I can make to the life of the unhappy man, it is the happy man whom I should help. Negative utilitarians disagree. Negative utilitarians hold that it is more important to alleviate suffering than it is to promote pleasure, and that I should therefore always choose to alleviate suffering rather than promote pleasure when forced to choose between the two. In most supporters of moderate NU the preference to survive is stronger than the wish to be freed from suffering, so that they refuse the idea of a quick and painless destruction of life. Some of them believe that, in time, the worst cases of suffering is defeated and a world of minor suffering can be realized. The big problem with negative utilitarianism is that it appears to require the destruction of the world. The world contains much suffering, and the future, presumably, contains a great deal more suffering than the present. Each of us will suffer many calamaties in the course of our lives, before those lives finally end with the suffering of death. There is a way, however, to reduce this suffering: we could end it all now. With nuclear weapons technology, we have the capability to blow up the planet, making it uninhabitable. Doing so would cause us all to suffer death, but death is going to come to us all anyway, so causing everyone to die will not increase the suffering in the world. Causing us to die now, though, will decrease the suffering in the world; it will prevent us from suffering those calamaties that were going to plague us during the remainder of our lives. Destroying the planet, then, will reduce the suffering in the world. According to negative utilitarianism, then, it is what we ought to do. That, though, is surely absurd. Negative utilitarianism, therefore, is false. References (Karl R. Popper, The Open Society and its Enemies, London 1945).

Partial Birth Abortion Act November 5, 2003 :: Government Politics Abortion Essays

Partial Birth Abortion Act November 5, 2003 On November 5, 2003 President Bush placed a national ban on partial birth abortions. This was an act that many felt was outdated. The same proposal was brought upon President Clinton in 1995, but he vetoed it saying it was a birth mother’s right to choose the fate of her unborn child. A partial birth abortion is the process of removing a fetus from the mother just prior to its birth. This procedure is not painless for the mother, or the fetus. The actual procedure involves removing the child limb by limb from the womb. After the initial limb removal, scissors are forced into the child’s skull and a suction tube is inserted to remove the brains of the child. President Bush’s press secretary, Hatsuhisa Takashima, wrote this speech. The author utilizes the problem/solution argument structure and the rhetorical appeals within his speech. The problem/solution that is apparent in the text of this speech is obvious from the very beginning. The President says, â€Å"that the American government has looked away from this violence, but now the government has confronted the violence and come to the defense of the innocent child.† The partial birth abortion was once seen as a medically necessary procedure, but the President points out it is, â€Å"not only cruel to the child, but harmful to the mother, and a violation of medical ethics.† The elected branches of government have worked together to prevent this practice as a means of a solution to the partial birth abortion situation in this country. The signing of the Partial Birth Abortion Act of 2003 shows a major solution by not allowing the problem to continue. In addition to the problem/solution argument structure this speech has ethos mixed in it also. Hatsuhisa Takashima, the author of this speech, held many high titles in his years working in Japan. Just before being appointed to be the Press Secretary of the United States of America he was the General of Administration and Broadcasting Corporation in Hong Kong. Before being appointed to that title he was the Director of United Nations Information Center in Tokyo. He has been involved in a journalism career for most of his life and his writings have been well acclaimed. In the speech he says many facts that lead one to believe that the banning of partial birth abortions is the best solution to the problem.

Engage in Personal Development in Health, Social Care Essay

1.2 Explain expectations about own work role as expressed in relevant standards. The expectations about my own work role as expressed in relevant standards are to; safeguard clients, to treat them with dignity and respect, to promote independence, to give them choice, and to make sure that they are in a clean and environment. 2.1 Explain the importance of reflective practice in continuously improving the quality of service provided. Working in care requires that in order to be an effective practitioner and to provide the best possible service for those you care for, you need to be able to reflect on what you do and the way you work and to also identify your strengths and weaknesses. It is important to examine the work that you have done and identify areas where you know you need to carry out additional development. 2.3 Describe how own values, beliefs systems and experiences may affect working practice. Everyone’s values and beliefs are affected to different degrees by the same range of factors. These may include: life stages, physical, social and emotional stages of development, employment, socio-economic circumstances, cultural background, religious beliefs and values, education, the effects of relationships, environment. You may believe that everyone should be treated in the same way, however there are differences in approach or attitude you may be unaware of. For example, you may not be aware that you are spending more time with someone who is asking your advice about a course of action which you think is sensible, than you are with someone who wanted to do something you thought inadvisable, there are many other ways in which your beliefs, interests and values can affect how you relate to people. It is important that you are aware of how you may behave differently towards people, because it could make a difference to the quality of your work. 3.1 Evaluate own knowledge, performance and understanding against relevant standards. My job came with a job description, but while that tells me what I need to do, it did not tell me how I needed to do it. To find that out, I needed to look at the Standards that apply to my work. Standards, as with Codes of Practice, will vary depending on the UK country in which you work. Each UK country has National Minimum Standards that are used by inspectors to ensure that services are being delivered at an acceptable level. Finally, and most importantly in terms of how I carry out my work, there are the National Occupational Standards (NOS). These apply across the whole of the UK, and explain what I need to know and be able to do in order to work effectively in social care. The National Occupational Standards form the basis for all the qualifications in the social care sector, and are divided into units of competence. Some of these are mandatory, and I am able to demonstrate competence in these areas. Other units are optional and I am able to demonstrate competence in those units relevant to my job role. In performing my job role, competence means that I have been able to provide evidence that I can demonstrate the skills and the underpinning knowledge contained in the National Occupational Standards. It is important to understand that competence is not only about doing the job; it is also about understanding why I do what I do and the theoretical basis that underpins the work.

Relational Database Of An Ecommerce Website - 1775 Words

Kehinde Akinola Department of Computer Science The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, Texas, U.S.A. kaakinola@utep.miners.edu Z Specifications derived from the Constraints in a Relational Database of an ecommerce website? Abstract— The project is simply derivation of Z specifications form the constraints in a relational database of an ecommerce website. An ecommerce website is developed from scratch using modern technology WordPress and Bootstrap. I developed the website as well as relational database where the products to be displayed on the website are stored. I used my computer system as both the client and the server for the proper functioning of the website. I installed Wampserver on my computer system and placed WordPress on the wampserver for the proper functioning of the website. The website is an ecommerce website and has few webpages developed and database where the contents to be displayed are stored. These are the databases whose contents will be fetched and displayed on the screen when accessed by the user or client. The constraints in the relational database of the website, is transformed as constraints to the of z specification language. . Keywords— formal method, relational database, ecommerce website. I. AIMS AND MOTIVATIONS There are several millions of websites available today. It has become so common that there is hardly a daily work without accessing the internet. There are also several ecommerce websites available. The most common ones areShow MoreRelatedWalmart s Brazilian Ecommerce Group1173 Words   |  5 PagesBig Data knowledge-empire. An important tool in achieving that has become the Neo4j database. Walmart’s Brazilian eCommerce group chose Neo4j to help Walmart understand the behavior and preferences of these online buyers with enough speed and in enough depth to make realtime, personalized, ‘you may also like’ recommendations, a proven way to maximize revenue. 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