Utilitarianism Essay -- essays research papers fc

Utilitarianism                                                  The concept of sustainable development is an attempt to balance two good demands placed on the environment. The first demand is for development,including economic development or growth. It arises mainly from the interestsof people who live in developing countries. Their present poverty gives them alow quality of bearing and calls urgently for steps to improve their quality oflife. The second demand is for sustainability, for ensuring that we do not riskthe future in the interest group of gains in the present. This arises from the interestsof people in the future who will need access to a reasonable quality of life,non-renewable resources, unspoiled wilderness, and a healthy biosphere. Thesetwo chaste demands do conflict. In fact, economic growth is the prime source ofthreats to the natural environment.     We have a rough sense of what a good quality of life for manhood consistsof. Also, we support make some rough judgments about when a persons quality oflife has increased or decreased. Utilitarianism about future generations saysthat people should bet these increases impartially with respect to fourth dimensions. And,in particular, should not prefer a smaller increase in the present well-being tolarger increases in the future. We should try to maximize the sum of increasesin well-being across times counting future lives equally against those in thepresent. Our moral goal should always be to produce the great total of suchgains, no matter by whom they are enjoyed.     Utilitarianism has been extensively discussed by philosophers, and manyobjections have been raised against it. Two objections are especially germane(predicate)here. First, utilitarianism i s an extremely, even excessively demanding moralview for most humans. If we have a duty always to bring about the best outcome,than any time we can increase the well-being of others (which is just about atany time), we have a moral duty to do so. There is no moral time off, no moralrelaxation, nor is there a moral holiday. Humans are always duty bound tosac... ... we can see that eachgeneration should bring in on to its successors a range of opportunities that allowsfor a reasonable quality of life. However, it should not be seen as a duty. Ifit is seen as a duty, then most humans may be turned off by the prospect oftaking care of their environment for future generations. If it is seen byhumans that our environment is a precious jewel, then we will more than likelywant to share it with our future generations.Works Cited1 Brian Berry, "Intergenerational Justice in Energy Policy." In D. MacLeanand P. G. Brown, eds., Energy and the Future Totowa, NJ Rowan and Littlefield,1983 pp.274.Resources1. Barry, Brian. "Intergenerational Justice in Energy Policy," in D. MacLeanand P. G. Brown, eds., Energy and the Future Totowa, NJ Rowan and Littlefield,1983.2. Danielson, Peter. "Personal Responsibility," in H. Coward and T. Hurka,eds., Ethics and Climate Change The nursery Effect Waterloo WilfredLaurier UP, 1993.3. Sidgwick, Henry. The Methods of Ethics, 7th ed. London Macmillan, 1907.4. World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future OxfordOxford University Press, 1987.