Freedom of speechh
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Chapter 4
U tilitarianism is a Western theory that has a history dating back to the late 1700s
(Harris, 2002; Shanahan & Wang, 2003). It has influenced the ethical decisionmaking in many facets of our lives including state and federal laws as well as professional codes of ethics. Harris stated that “utilitarianism is one of the most powerful and persuasive traditions of moral thought in our culture” (p. 119). Quinton (1973) suggested that “Utilitarianism can be understood as a movement for legal, political and social reform that flourished in the first half of the nineteenth century” (p. 1). Rachels (1998) described utilitarian theory as based in social reform in human behavior, offering an alternative to natural law. The earliest proponent of utilitarian theory was David Hume in the mid-1700s (Rachels, 1998). Hume introduced many of the basic concepts of utilitarian theory and he believed morals guided human behavior (Quinton, 1973). Hume’s basic beliefs included a perception that humans are naturally kind (Quinton). According to Quinton, a second belief proposed by Hume was that humans sympathize with others and seek common ground. Jeremy Bentham followed Hume and was the first to formally write down ideas about utilitarian theory (Shanahan & Wang, 2003). Bentham’s original views were influenced by his background in economics and government. Several key assumptions are characteristic of Bentham’s views. First, he believed that pleasure and pain influenced human behavior and human decision-making. Consequently, what is good or bad is related to what is pleasurable or painful, the hedonist principle (Quinton, 1973). His simple view of ethics was that good or bad is a function of
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differences in the amount of pleasure or pain between courses of action for all individuals involved (Shanahan & Wang). Second, Bentham