Utilitarianism The Pursuit Of Happiness Philosophy Essay

Utilitarianism The Pursuit Of Happiness Philosophy Essay The phrase life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, enshrined in the founding documents of the United States, was derived from John Locke. Lockes formulation, however, was life, liberty, and property. In choosing the broader formulation pursuit of happiness, the framers were certainly not drawing from John Stuart Mill, since they wrote many decades before he did. They were writing and thinking in the same philosophical tradition, which goes ultimately back to Aristotle. Mill, however, has given us in Utilitarianism the most concise, analytical interpretation of this concept. What is meant by happiness, and what justifies regarding it as the goal either of a political system or of a system of ethical philosophy? In everyday usage, we use it most often in the sense of being pleased (Im happy you could come), or of general well-being (Happy Birthday!). It has pleasant connotations, but not, in everyday usage, particularly lofty ones. One might expect moral philosophy, or even political philosophy and statecraft, to seek some more profound goal. Mill, however, constructs his approach to moral philosophy from the bottom up. He starts from the premise that we naturally seek out pleasant experiences, and try to avoid pain or unpleasant experiences. At first glance this might appear to be an invitation to mere hedonism, eat, drink, and be merry. However, human experience shows that pleasant experiences are not limited to the material. We enjoy music, for example, and friendship, and seek these things out. Indeed, we often find satisfaction in experiences that mi ght well be arduous and even unpleasant, such as running a marathon. Even the effort of living up to a system of values carries its satisfactions (7-8). The sum total of these satisfactions and pleasures, or dissatisfactions and miseries, though the course of a lifetime constitutes our overall happiness or unhappiness (3-4). Happiness is therefore the good life not in the narrow sense of a house in the suburbs, convenient to a golf course (though not excluding these things), but in the broadest sense of a satisfying and joyous human existence. This, suggests Mill, is our goal in life, not imposed on us by some moral authority or power, but as a consequence of our human nature. Moreover, the pursuit of happiness extends even as a purely practical matter beyond our own condition of life to the condition of the society in which we live. Even if our motives are entirely selfish, for example, we have a vested interest in a society in which, for example, theft and robbery are not the general because we do not wish to be robbed or stolen from. (Even a professional thief benefits from not being a victim of theft as well.) The same practical principle can be extended to vices and virtues in general: We are all better off for living in a society where virtues are general practiced (31-32). However, what produces the general condition of a society but the behavior of the people who make it up. A burglar may benefit from living in a society where people do not lock their doors, but his behavior makes society less likely to display such mutual trust. If we wish to live in a virtuous society, therefore, it is in our interest to practice the virtues ourselves. What goes around, after all, comes around. Indeed, Mill speaks of a contagion of sympathy, a sort of virtuous cycle (the opposite of a vicious cycle) in which the practice of virtue encourages virtue in others, and improves the condition of life for all. This implicitly is what the founding fathers had in mind. A free society does not seek to impose virtue by fiat, but depends on the general practice of virtue to sustain itself. By aiding in the pursuit of happiness by others, we improve our own chances of pursuing it. A contemporary issue on which Mills propositions might shed light is the controversy over gay marriage. Many people, perhaps most people, have found the idea strange or shocking when first presented. Some fear that it would destroy marriage. However, it is hard to see how permitting gays to marry detracts from marriages between men and women. Their marriages are unchanged. What permitting gay marriage does is permit a new satisfaction a further pursuit of happiness for gay couples. Moreover, by recognizing such couples, it encourages gay individuals to seek stable relationships, improving the condition of society as well as their own lives. Thus, the pursuit of happiness, combined with Mills analysis of how ethical principles can be built up from our knowledge of human existence, casts a powerful light on how we can interpret social issues and their possible resolution. Source Cited Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1979. (Original publication 1861.)

Giant Pool of Money

In the story presented on the thematically. Org describes the process and the behavior patterns of parties involved. Mike Francis, Moody, and Standard and Poor represent the lending or investors side. When Mike Francis devised the mortgage backed securities which gave birth to Cods Investors jumped onto these securities based on AAA ratings given to these securities by rating agencies such as Moody, and Standard and Poor. These rating agencies did collect lot of data which were barely few years old. They did not have enough relevant and good quality data and collected data was simply to enough.These rating agencies used their preexisting theory – houses don't lose value In America – to Interpret the evidences that the performance of these securities were AAA (Heath, et al. 1998). Individuals use their preexisting theories to Interpret the evidence (Heath, et al. 1998) is a bias which played a major role here. The investors from the global pool of money jumped in with al l guns for these securities. As demand grew more and more these mortgages were bought and more and more securities were created to investors. The entire process showed a confirmation bias.People who took risky adjustable loans to buy houses which they really could not afford were essentially following other people. Since most of the people were buying houses by taking these loans, it made sense for other to replicate the act. Calling explains, In his book Influence Since and Practice (5th edition), this behavior as â€Å"the principle of social proof†. This principle states that we determine what Is correct by finding out what other people this Is correct (Lund et al. , 2007). Before 2000 most of people with low Income and low credit score were not able to afford buying the kind f house they bought during the period after 2000.In the radio program â€Å"Giant Pool of Money†, case of Clarence Nathan is presented. Clarence works 3 jobs, did not made good income and had b ad credit rating. â€Å"l wouldn't lend to myself† said Clarence. Even then he took the loan because everyone else was talking these kinds of loans and in fact the loan was made available to him. Even the behavior of investors, banks, and Wall Street followed the same pattern. Early on, investment banks were not interested in risky mortgages but when one bank started buying hose supreme mortgages others Jumped in. It was acceptable to invest in supreme mortgages.

The Legacy Of Abraham Lincoln - 1044 Words

Abraham Lincoln was a great president and did a lot of great things for this country that have impacted us to this day. He was born on February 12, 1809. Growing up on the farms of Kentucky and Indiana. As a kid he always wanted to have a great education and had a passion for books. His mom encouraged him to pursue his dreams to learn but his dad was against it. His mom died when he was nine and his stepmom continued what his mom did and encouraged him to pursue with his education. Lincoln moved to New Salem he worked as a shopkeeper and postmaster. He soon was involved with politics and was a supporters of the Whig Party. Lincoln was not the only one that opposed the spread of slavery to the territories. Henry Clay and Daniel†¦show more content†¦He was a congressman and unpopular in Illinois because of his strong stance with the war with Mexico. He returned to Springfield in 1849. Douglas was a leading Democrat in congress and pushed through the passage of the Ka nsas-Nebraska Act (1854). This act declared that voters of each territory had the right to decide whether the territory should be slave free. On October 16, 1854, Lincoln went in from of a large crowd in Peoria, denouncing slavery and it s extension and calling the institution a violation of the most basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence. In March 1861 he was inaugurated in seven southern sates and seeded into Confederate States of America after being Union. Lincoln ordered a fleet of Union ships to supply South Carolina s Fort Sumter in April. The Confederates fired on the Union and the fort. This was the beginning of the Civil War. After a defeat in the battle of Bull Run, Lincoln called for 500,000 more troops. He learned quickly about the war in the beginning and had better strategies and tactics. He had a better understanding on commanders. Union victory of Antietam on September 22, 1862 made the president very confident enough to reshape the cause of the war from union to abolishing slavery. On January 1, 1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This stated that if you were held as a slave henceforward shall be free.

Propaganda Techniques Used For Advertisements - 993 Words

Nowadays, advertisements persuade millions of Americans into spending their money on unnecessary products. In today s modern world advertisements are practically everywhere we turn. If we Americans pay close attention they will notice that there are different techniques being used. According to Ann McClintock, Name Calling, Glittering Generalities, Transfer, Testimonial, Plain Folks, Card Stacking, and Bandwagon are some techniques being used for advertisements (698-701). In addition, Tesla, Toyota and Old Navy are all companies that persuade Americans into buying their products by using some of those 7 propaganda techniques. The Tesla recharge + advertisement strives to persuade men to acquire the electric Tesla vehicle. This advertisement enlightens men of not being obligated to recharge the vehicle until it reaches up to 300 miles. Men not having to charge the vehicle s battery until 300 miles, motivates them into purchasing the vehicle. Men end up purchasing this vehicle because charging the vehicle is less expensive than putting gas in the vehicle. In the background of the advertisement, lightning is visible near the white section of the clouds. Ordinarily, lightning symbolizes electricity or power. In this case is the speed of the car. For example, Tesla Motor vehicles can reach sixty miles per hour in 2.5 seconds. In addition, the advertisement has a gray shield with the Tesla Motor s logo and name. The gray shield seems like a god/goddess bestowing power to theShow MoreRelatedPublicizing Information in Propaganda Techniques831 Words   |  3 PagesPropaganda Techniques Propaganda refers to any form of misleading information that meant to publicize a particular product, a service or an event. It is applicable in many and varied situations for different reasons to communicate to audiences. An unformed judgment would view propaganda as a technique applicable only in politics for posing unfair competition (Gardner). However, the contemporary business environment has recently advanced and perfected the use of propaganda in its numerous forms. TheRead MoreA Brief Note On Ecosos766 Words   |  4 Pagesorder to, have them purchase it. That is through the use of propaganda devices that have often been implemented by various media outlets. A propaganda device is an appeal to emotion used for the purpose of influencing the opinions of an audience. It is an important technique needed to be used in our advertisements to ensure potential customers. By applying Testimonial Devices, The Band Wagon, and Transfer devices into our advertisement, customers will not hesitate to buy Ecos that will, in turn,Read MoreWhat Makes Apple Products?1589 Words   |  7 Pagesproducts most recognized is the forms of advertisements the company uses in persuading the consumers rather than of their pioneering innovations and aspiring ideas their products have to offer. Each advertisement by the company uses single or multiple propaganda techniques. One must understand that Apple was company that was not on top of the business world until the company started using propaganda in the 1990s (Nudd,Tim). The propaganda was a great success as it used catchy phrase such as Think DifferentRead MorePropaganda, Propaganda And Propaganda1045 Words   |  5 Pagespublic opinion through propaganda. Propaganda is very often thought of as an attempt to win people over to an unpopular cause or to influence them to follow a generally disapproved course of actions. But actually, the purpose of propaganda can be quite varied. It can be generally understood as a means of influ encing others, often towards a desirable end. Propaganda is a systematic effort to influence peoples’ opinions to win them over to a certain view or side. Propaganda is not necessarily concernedRead MoreTobacco Advertising Essay608 Words   |  3 PagesIndustries lure victims is by propaganda. Propaganda is a systematic effort to influence peoples opinions. Propaganda may take many shapes and forms. For example, cartoon characters might be used to interest young viewers. Joe Camel is very appealing and fun. Also, the Marlboro man, depicted as a hard working man, who gets ladies with his charm is an obvious role model. Capri and Virginia Slims have many glamorous girls on their billboards and magazine advertisements, which illustrates a wealthyRead MorePropaganda Techniques Of Today s Advertising By Ann Mcclintock Essay906 Words   |  4 PagesIn â€Å"Propaganda Techniques in Today s Advertising† by Ann McClintock, the author discusses how Americans are being brainwa shed by advertisements and the different techniques they use to catch our attention. Ads are simply everywhere we look, it is impossible to get through the day without seeing one. All advertising companies put tons of research into how consumers spend money or even vote. Once these companies finish their research, they create advertisements that appeal to the masses. The basicRead MoreThe Effects Of Television On Our Society881 Words   |  4 Pagesadvert her favorite singer lost 25 lbs. in just two weeks by using this overpriced herbal formula. After two weeks, I visited her to see the awaited wonder, but I realized that she is one of the victims of lured advertisements, which are now part of our everyday life. We see advertisements on the television showing new glamorous lifestyles, hear them on the radio, see slogans embellished on people’s shirts, on the side of the buses, on billboards, in fact everywhere. Companies spend lot of money researchingRead MorePropaganda from the Beauty Industry1226 Words   |  5 PagesThere are so many forms of propaganda that surround our lives on a every day basis, and these negative messages persuade and shape our thoughts of perfection, of who we are, and who we ought to be. The beauty industry and its’ advertisements is one type of propaganda that ultimately characterizes the way we think of ourselves. The media is relentless in reminding us every chance they get why women need to be perfect and what we need to achieve that. There is endless pressure as women to have a perfectRead MoreAnalyzing the Film Food Inc and the Propaganda Message for Positive Change1450 Words   |  6 Pages Society tends to associate propaganda films with issues such as Nazi Germany and their film messages for their country; however, it is also possible for small independent companies, groups of like-minded people and individuals to use the media of film to incorporate messages for our society (The Independent, 2010). These messages are often in relation to changes that individuals should make in order to improve the standards by which they live their lives and changes to everyday habits that willRead MoreLying Sells : Beyonce s American Express Commercial962 Words   |  4 Pagescompanies hire advertisers to develop a catchy advertisement to sell their product. However, most advertisers have to lie or use certain trick for the product to sell. This is called propaganda. Propaganda: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Propaganda has changed society in many different ways. It has changed th e way we think, eat, and live life. Using propaganda has become a way of life for advertisers