s not focus on the action itself or on any set of established moral values or religious beliefs.
Under utilitarian ethics, an action is right when, among the people it affects, it produces the greatest amount of good for the greatest number. When an action affects the majority adversely, it is wrong. Applying the utilitarian theory requires us to do the following things, according to Carper:
(1) Determine the alternative actions available in a given situation; (2) Determine who will be affected by these actions; (3) Predict the negative and positive effects of each alternative action on these individuals. (This is called a cost-benefit analysis); and (4) Choose the alternative that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people. (158)
Utilitarianism is discussed as a pragmatic answer to the establishment of public policy in Ethics & Politics: Cases and Comments. According to Gutmann and Thompson, "Utilitarianism is attractive as a theory for guiding hard choices in politics because it offers a simple principle--maximize social happiness--by which to resolve all conflicts among policies" (xiv). The fact that utilitarianism falls short on some aspects does not warrant dismissing it altogether. Utilitarians rightfully challenge their critics to propose a better set of principles by which public officials can make hard choice among competing goods. Gutmann and Thompson note that critics take issue with two assumptions of policy analysis as it is commonly practiced by utilitarians: "that all competing goods can be reduced to a common measure (generally money) and that justice entails maximizing social welfare rather than distributing goods in a fair way among individuals" (xiv).
Robert Nozick, a leading libertarian, holds that freedom is everything when it comes to personal, or public, policy. His view of justice as freedom offers a view of the individual's rights in society. Libertarians such ...