Utilitarianism, Act and Rule

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that act utilitarianism involves independent acts; whereas, rule utilitarianism involves the laws people observe while they act; act utilitarianism believes that people must do whichever action will cause the maximum good and the minimum ill; whereas, rule utilitarianism believes that people must observe laws, which will cause the maximum good and the minimum ill for everybody involved. The author points out that act utilitarianism states it would be ethically incorrect to fritter away hours on recreational pursuits like viewing television because it would be better spent on more societal welfare like philanthropic activities; however, banning recreational actions does not appear justifiable. The paper concludes that, hypothetically, the optimum purpose and law may be act utilitarianism; however, this might be idealistically insubstantial because any type of utilitarianism has to admit the inclination of the people to follow general laws.

From the Paper:

"As per act utilitarianism, it is the importance of the outcomes of the specific act that matters while resolving if the act is correct. Act utilitarianism asserts that acts are to be weighed as correct or erroneous only on the worth of integrity or immorality of their outcomes. While evaluating the integrity of the outcomes, the sole entity that counts is well being which causes somebody's living to progress smoothly for him or her. Well-being is the only entity that is excellent for its individual reason. Act utilitarianism also asserts that the appropriate act can be construed as such that generates the highest total of well being whilst evaluating without any prejudice intensifications and attenuation in the well being of every one impacted by the act."

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