Discussion questions

Question 1

Ethical egoism is considered as part of the consequentialism theory because the theory approves an act to be morally right if every consequence of the action done is positive and vice versa for a moral wrong. The ethical egoism only narrows the claim by stressing on the maximization of self-interest. The basis of the ethical egoism is therefore grounded on how sufficient an action is to self interest o the doer.

Question 2

Ethical egoist will never come to consider other people’s interests because all it focuses on is that each person is only concerned about his or her own welfare. For instance, people usually desire what others are doing like playing so that they can establish their own welfare. However, this contradicts the claim of the ethical egoism which holds that people are only concerned about sel interest matters.

Question 3

The utilitarianism considers a morally upright action is that which maximizes utility. This includes the well-being and pleasure of the adjacent victims of the action. Being a form of consequentialism, it uses the consequences to measure the rightness or wrongness of an action regardless of the doer’s interests.

Question 4

According to Bentham, happiness is measured by the number of people whose interest coincides with a certain consequence of an action. This means that the greatest happiness is that which the greatest number of people in favor of it. Mill on the other hand considers happiness as a moral desirable action regardless of the number of people.

Question 5

According to mill, happiness is a desire people long to feel. Trading human life in exchange of a happy pig directly reflects Mill’s view of happiness. However, Mill puts happiness boundaries by claiming that it must be moral. Therefore, it is not his view to trade human life in exchange of a happy pig because of the moral of the action.