Blog #1

There is moral disagreement between alot of cultures in this world. One would have to be the Middle East, where we are fighting terrorism currently, and between the United States. In the Middle East you can say that they believe killing yourself in an act that will hurt others as well is seen as a good act and is viewed as being moral. We, the United States see it as an act of terrorism and think badly about it. All countries are different and have different beliefs, its just how we act on them that makes us who we are.

intrinsic value

Does happiness have any intrinsic value? Utilitarianism is something that increases overall happiness. I believe happiness does have intrinsic value because happiness comes from within. Every person creates some kind of happiness for themselves and they believe what they do is right for them. People enjoy different things therefore creating ones own happiness. If everyone based there own happiness on another person happiness then obviously it wouldn’t come from within.

moral agents

Does utilitarianism demand too much of moral agents? As we know, utilitarianism is some moral action that increases overall happiness. Moral agents are suggested to be people, who are only rational, as people who can reason and form self-interested judgements. You would tend to believe that the motives people have for doing things are independent and the results of those actions is what we actually look at. Those actions are judged as being moral or immoral. Mills does state that the greater majority of good actions are intended more for the person itself and not the world. In my opinion, I do agree that utilitarianism does demand too much of moral agents because that would make that individual seem God like. Not everyone can live up to those kind of expectations.

your preference

Are higher pleasures different or better then lower pleasures? The author believes they are and I would agree with that only because most people want the best things in life. I mean isn’t that what everyone is working for, to have everything they could possibly want. Being high scale means you could have anything doesn’t it? In most cases it would but having all you want doesn’t always mean that you are completely happy in life. For example, would you rather have a big house or a not so big house? For me i would want a big house because that is just a higher pleasure and it just comes back to the point of everyone wanting the best for themselves. Just proves that “higher” pleasure is better then so called “lower” pleasures.

Utilitarianism

There is one question many people have many different answers to in life. We know our actions all come with some kind of consequence but we don’t exactly know what that consequence might be. The question really is though to what extent are morally responsible for our actions? The answer to that could be many different ones and it can really all depend on what that person actually did. Even if the reasoning is not good and the outcome is what the person wanted doesn’t mean that it was moral. Whether your action be good or bad you are held accountable either way. For utilitarianism, which is the theory that an action is good if it increases overall happiness, it just comes back to reason and why a person did this/that to improve the overall happiness of this themselves or the world.

Morality for an irrational God?

When we think of someone being irrational we think of them as doing something against the norm or just being crazy. So when it comes to God, if he is irrational, basically we are calling him crazy and that he doesn’t understand the norms and has no moral. To be moral you have to have good reason for what you do and be able to put together reasons to determine what is right and wrong. This means in DCT that God is irrational because he possibly puts his thoughts together in a way that makes it more immoral then moral.

Divine Command Theory

Religion has been around for longer then anyone could even imagine. If the Divine Command Theory is false wouldn’t that be telling everyone that God has almost no influence on our beliefs to what we feel is right. If you believe in God then that would be telling you that believing in someone or something would be wrong. In reference to morality the Divine Command Theory makes you believe that God has a say but if the theory is deemed false then God is said to be wrong. If God does not control morality then what do his believers actually have to believe in. God if defined by the Divine Command Theory as being false would just be a spirit to follow rather then someone we look at for to lead a basic moral life.