I think Utilitarianism is one of the best ethical tools out there. I love making lists and weighing the costs and benefits of my actions. Practitioners of Utilitarianism believe that “we must pursue those acts that bring about the greatest positive consequences (pleasure) for the greatest number” (Ess, p. 202). The book uses the example of staying home and studying for a big test with a peer or going out for pizza and beer with friends. One pro of staying home and studying would be that you would get a better grade than had you not stayed home and study. One con of staying home would be that you wouldn’t get to hang out with your friends. On the other hand, one of the pros of going out with your friends is that you would get to have fun with your friends. One of the cons of going out would be that you would be too hung over for your test and you would get a poor score on the test. You could take this a step further and say that some longer-term cons of going out with your friends instead of studying would be getting a bad grade, losing your scholarship, forcing you to drop out of college, not getting a good job, and being miserable for the rest of your life.
One of the cons of using the Utilitarian method is that there does not appear to be “a satisfying justification for telling us where in time to draw the line – the point after which we no longer need worry about the outcomes of our choices. But depending on where we draw this line can make all the difference in our calculations” (Ess, p. 204). In other words, “the further in the future we seek to predict, the less reliable our predictions can be” (Ess, p.205). That being said, I still believe Utilitarianism to be one of the best ways for making ethical decisions.
Works Cited:
Ess, Charles. Digital Media Ethics, 2nd ed., Polity Press, 2014, pp. 201-205.