Assignment 1: Calculating the Good

Assignment 1: Calculating the Good

Utilitarianism seems simple on the surface. However, this assumption is predicated on the premise that one can calculate the “good” and calculating the good complicates things. According to your readings for this module, utilitarianism is not always as simple as it seems.

Typical “objections” to utilitarianism are the following:

1. Time
2. Predictability
3. Whose good is being considered?
4. Rule making
5. The tyranny of the majority
6. Does the end justify the means?

1. Pick two of the objections.
2. Discuss how these objections make calculating utility or “good” difficult.
3. Your response should be approximately 75 words for each objection.
4. Use a personal example for each of your objections.  Each example may be not more than two sentences long.
5. Please make references to your readings from this week to support your opinion. Be sure to accurately cite any references using APA format.

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The tyranny of the majority

            Tyranny of the majority insinuates that something benefit a group of people and only hurt an individual or a small group, hence the majority opinion counts to ensure happiness is granted to the majority (Guinier, 2007). It makes it difficult because sometimes the happiness of the majority may be a short term thing but how an individual gets hurt may be long term, because one may suffer due to a decision that was made……

APA

288 words