ArgeL’s Blog

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In this part of the chapter the author shared the essay of James Rachels. James Rachels is a University
Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He authored three significant books about
morality. I think that with James Rachel’s background he would be able to share a lot of interesting
theories and insights about ethics. Since most of the time morality is used as a basis for something being
ethical or not I think that a person who knows a lot about morality would be able to share some important
theories and insights about ethics. James Rachels objected to the ideas of utilitarianism based on three
propositions. The first proposition is about judging whether an action is right or wrong based their
consequences. Basically it is like choosing the lesser evil. James Rachels argued that this is not entirely
correct because commons sense is used in choosing right and wrong with Utilitarianism and common
sense cannot fully be trusted. It cannot be trusted because what is right in common sense is based on
merit and not what is entirely right. The second proposition is about happiness. The right action is the one
that creates more happiness then misery. James Rachels argues that this is wrong because the right
thing to do is not the one that causes happiness but the one that causes less suffering. The third
proposition is about consequences. According to utilitarianism the right action is the one that has less
negative consequences. James Rachels argues that this proposition is flawed because it is not
compatible with justice. An action can have less negative consequence to the doer but it can cause
damage to other people…..