There is no topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

There is no topic - Essay Example By utility, Bentham meant anything that would produce happiness or pleasure for the majority of people, and anything that would mitigate suffering or pain. According to utilitarianism, everyone likes pleasure and resents pain, and thus this forms a basis for political and moral judgement. As such, the major point of utilitarianism is to weigh the costs against the benefits of any action before undertaking it (Sandel 32). Bentham’s utilitarianism led to a rise of objections, most of which were concentrated on the impact of utilitarianism on the human rights. The first objection is that utilitarianism holds no value for the rights of individuals. It is argued that this approach cares about the total benefit of individuals in a given situation. It is, therefore, likely to overlook the rights of individuals that could be stamped upon to ensure pleasure for the others. The second objection against utilitarianism is that it assumes that all moral goods can be translated into one sin gle currency. In this case, it means that something is lost in the translation as the definitions of good vary across societies and perceptions (Sandel 32). The issue of economic inequality has been in the limelight in the U.S. with the country’s wealth being in the hands of a few individuals while a majority of the population living from hand to mouth (Sandel 58). The debate goes as far as to the Congress where some believe that the rich should be taxed to offer equal opportunities for economic growth for the poor. However, others believe that such favour taxation is not necessary given that the rich used legal and appropriate methods to acquire their wealth. From the utilitarianism point of view, seems a good idea as it increases the utility of the larger population who are to benefit from the taxes. As such, the taxes imposed on the rich may not affect them as they form a minute fraction of their wealth. However, there are