The Second Amendment

Analytical Essay # 59413

English > Analysis
Ethics
Philosophy

An analysis of the utilitarian view of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.

1,348 words () | 3 sources | MLA | 2004 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper evaluates the second Amendment based on utilitarianism. In particular, the paper reviews John Stuart Mills's works, "Utilitarianism" and "On Liberty," to assess whether the Second Amendment is legitimate. The paper examines the issue on several levels, such as rule versus act utilitarianism and applies the theories of utilitarianism to attempt to clarify the legitimacy of the controversy.

From the Paper:

"The structure of our society today allows the government to preside over the people, governing them with a set of laws and policies that society has deemed to be ethical and moral. These rules can be viewed to have been set forth with the intention to provide the most utility for its constituents. By establishing laws that predetermine what is lawfully right and what is not, society hopes to help citizens determine what is considered moral. Even with the existence of these laws, there is still much controversy in society about this issue. One of the on-going debates includes the legitimacy of the second amendment of the United States constitution "the right to bear arms"."