Utilitarianism is an example of Consequentialist Ethics, where the morality of an action is determined by its accomplishing its desired results. In both scenarios the desired result was to save the lives of thousands of people in the community. Therefore, a Utilitarian would say that the actions taken in both of the scenarios are moral. Since an (Act) Utilitarian believes that actions should be judged according to the results it achieves. Happiness should not be simply one’s own, but that of the greatest number. In both scenarios, the end result saved the lives of 5,000 members of the community. The end result is the only concern and to what extreme is taken to reach this result is of no matter. In these instances the things that are lost are an Inmates religious beliefs or a mothers fetus, on the other hand Thousands of citizens were saved from dying from this disease. In the Scenario I, a Utilitarian would view the inmate as having a higher sense of moral obligation. From a Utilitarian perspective, the inmate should have acted out of a general desire to do what is right for the benefit of all, not simply for his own happiness, even if it meant going against his religion. The Utilitarian would also view the prison official’s behavior as moral. This is because one man endured the pain and suffering, but from that, 5,000 other people had much happier lives. Even if the inmate had eventually killed himself, a Utilitarian would still view the acts as moral.In Scenario II, it is more difficult to discern exactly what an (Act) Utilitarian would say about the morality of the choices made since these choices bring pain in suffering to a greater number of people. The loss of three fetuses, that were not otherwise going to be aborted, would have a tremendous effect on many people. The mothers and their families would experience a great deal of pain and suffering over this loss. However, when weighed with the happines...
