Ethics

Ethics Study Guide leads to more happiness than pain. There is no consideration given to the act of murder itself as right or wrong. If the greatest utility is served by this murder, then it is right. Rule utilitarianism states that moral decision-making should abide by a set of rules that will generally tend to maximize utility. Working from the example above concerning the shipwrecked people, a rule utilitarian might not choose to kill one to save everyone else, because he/she assumes that if everyone broke the rule “do not kill an innocent person” the consequences would turn out far worse than if all five people died. To a rule utilitarian, having a law against murder is good because if everyone follows the law, society will be more orderly, because people won't kill each other randomly, and people can be in public and private spaces without fear. In terms of justice, a rule utilitarian believes the state has a function in meting out punishment, because the law says it is a state function. An act utilitarian may see justice as an individual responsibility; often vigilantes display act utilitarian thinking: “If I kill this serial murderer, more people will be safe.” The fact that there is a law against murder may be irrelevant to the utilitarian.

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