Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethics - Essay Example Egoism is also in conflict with conflict regulation. There are times when a moral choice requires one to act contrary to one’s own interest. The application of egoism would not allow this. UTILITARIANISM   People who prescribe to utilitarianism believe that one should always act in favor of what will provide the greatest amount of happiness for all people involved. The theory challenges one to measure happiness. This is difficult as happiness is subjective to each individual. Furthermore, utilitarianism condones terrible acts such as murder if those acts provide pleasure to the greatest number of people. Another concern is that there is no solid guide to follow and acts are often in conflict. Sometimes it is okay to do things like steal, other times it is not. Individuals must weigh the results of a particular action each time one encounters it in order to calculate the corresponding level of happiness for everyone involved and determine the proper course of action in each u nique scenario. CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE   The Categorical Imperative admonishes people to act the way they would want all other people to act. The theory assumes that people are rational and will act accordingly. Those who are irrational for any reason, including illness, would be exempt from practicing this theory. Moreover, actions taken by an individual may be in conflict when one considers perfect duties and imperfect duties. Bold statements of perfect duties such as never tell a lie govern behavior, but if a lie prevents someone from getting hurt one must do one to support the other when applying the categorical imperative. One could also stretch the rules to allow almost any action, because the rules are already broad in nature. NATURAL LAW   Natural Law theorizes that anything is moral that supports basic rights including survival, procreation, and maintenance of health. People may have trouble defining natural laws and determining how to apply them. In addition, oneâ€⠄¢s views on religion and the role of God in nature intertwine with the definition of Natural Law. Because one’s views on religion and the role of God in nature are determined on an individual basis, the theory is difficult to practice with any consistency across a group of people. Natural Law may also condone specific acts that many would view as immoral or unethical because they are not in conflict with any natural law. For example, many consider rape immoral, but one could argue that the act supports procreation if the intent of the act was to create a child. THEORY OF JUSTICE AS FAIRNESS-MAXI MIN   The theory of Justice as Fairness—Maxi Min suggests that one should balance opportunity with inequality. Equality is difficult to measure and one must reduce equality to embrace the lowest common societal denominator in order to apply this theory. In practice, however, this allows inequality on the other end of the spectrum. In practice, people must apply a veil of ign orance in order to apply the two principles inherent in the theory. People may find the veil of ignorance challenging to achieve. Additionally, the theory is difficult to apply on an individual basis and more aptly applies at a community level. WILL TO POWER - Existentialist Theory of Nietzsche   Nietzsche proposes that all humans naturally exert their will on others. Because each person acts selfishly, there are no altruistic acts. The desire to