Sunday, January 19, 2020
Utilitarianism or God, do we have to choose? Essay -- essays research
Utilitarianism or God, do we have to choose? During many years that question is being formulated and many scholars had a very difficult time to decide if it was possible to follow God’s will and the principle of utility maximization. The principle of utility maximization was a theory created by John Stuart Mill and presented in his book Utilitarianism (1863). Societies throughout the years have argued that those theories are hard to combine, since Utilitarianism seeks for self-development and God’s teachings seek for community growth. This paper will start with a context on actuality of society, then it will try to clarify what is the Bible view of Utilitarianism by explaining the principle of Utilitarianism, what society has to change to avoid to forget God’s principles and only base their behavior on Mill’s theory, how society should accept both theories and combine them into one in order to create a better society. An important part of this discussion is based on understanding what is happening with society nowadays. Societies all around the world are becoming more and more individualists, what is causing problems that can affect the whole world, problems such as terrorists attacks, war or even in a lower but maybe more important scale hunger. This is basically happening because every single member of every society is only looking after themselves instead of the group, they are only trying to progress individually, but most of these individuals forget that to really achieve the top you need help, and that help comes from other individuals. The following part of the paper will try to clarify the biblical view of Mill’s theory, the Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism has always been seen as an opposite theory from God’s teachings. That is not absolutely correct. Jesus gave us the major example of understanding Mill’s principle by dying on the cross. Of course it is simple to say that Jesus died for every human being and that is a proof of community spirit instead of individualism, however Jesus showed that He was following actually not His will but God’s will, what is showed on the passage before Jesus is captured by the roman soldiers: â€Å"O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt†(Matthew 26:39). What Jesus was showing is that every single human has the principle of utilitarianism inside themselve... ...s Consulted †¢Ã‚     Rose, John T., â€Å"Utility Versus Self-Sacrificing Love†Christian Scholar’s Review Fall 2004 †¢Ã‚     Leightner, Jonathan, â€Å"‘Not my Will†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢:Further Thoughts on Utility Versus Self-Sacrificing Love†Christian Scholar’s Review Fall 2004 †¢Ã‚     NRSV Bible †¢Ã‚     â€Å"FAO unveils global anti-hunger program†http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/5500-en.html †¢Ã‚     Mill, John Stuart, Utilitarianism, Hackett Publishing Company Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1979, Original Publication, 1861 †¢Ã‚     Harcourt, Edward, â€Å"Mill’s ‘Sanctions’, Internalization and the Self†European Journal of Philosophy; Oct98, Vol. 6 Issue 3, p318, 17p †¢Ã‚     Kant Immanuel, Grounding For The Metaphysics Of Morals, Third Edition, Hackett Publishing Company Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1993, Original Publication, 1785 †¢Ã‚     Smart, and Bernard Williams. Utilitarianism: For and Against. Trowbridge: Redwood Burn, 1973 †¢Ã‚     Lewis, C.S., â€Å"Mere Christianity†Harper Collins Edition 2001
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