Utilitarian Ethics Study of John Stuart Mill - Essay Sample

Introduction

The utilitarian ethic study by Stuart Mill proposes that an action is deemed right if it causes a proportional amount of happiness on the largest group of people. On the contrary, an action is considered wrong based on the reverse of happiness it causes on the largest population. The reverse of happiness is pain. According to Mill, happiness is defined as the lack of pain and the acceptable amount of pleasure one can offer. Stuart Mill states that people tend to view utilitarianism as the opposing principle of human pleasure.

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However, utilitarianism is pleasure in itself as it seeks the happiness of people in the absence of pain. The utilitarian principle is also known as the Greatest Happiness Principle (Mill, 2010). Therefore, according to Mill, an action must produce more happiness and no pain if it is to be considered right. Assuming that I am a surgeon leading a team in liver transplant and that there is only one liver for three patients, I hope to apply Mill's theory in choosing the most viable patient for the transplant.

Best Choice: Patient One

All of my assigned patients will die within three months if appropriate action is not taken. The first patient is Francis, who is 57 years old and a father of three teenage children. Francis is recovering from alcoholism and has shown incredible improvement over the past nine months by not testing alcohol. He had previously shown relapses in his recovery journey. However, his current improvement is impressive. Francis is the president of a credit finance firm that is small in size and has is susceptible to closure if he dies. He has a wife as well and a family to take care of.

I find the practical theory to work in favor of Francis. For one reason, Francis has shown significant improvement to leave his alcoholic behavior. Moreover, I choose Francis since his family highly relies on him to provide. His children need to have a father, and his wife deserves a partner. Therefore, best on Mill's utilitarian theory, I would attend to Francis first and administer the liver transplant surgery (Mill, 2010). My decision will affect not only Francis but also his wife and children. It will have great happiness for the family of five. Moreover, since Francis owns a small company, I believe he has employees too. Hence, if he dies, the employees will lose a source of income, and their families will lack their basics for some time before they stabilize. Therefore, I recommend that choosing Francis is the best practical choice in this case.

The rationale for Recipient B

Miriam is a thirty-four-year-old woman from a wealthy family. Despite being an adult, she has no sense of direction with her life and is allegedly rude. Miriam's father is a very wealthy man, and he recently donated $2 million to the hospital. He also promised to donate more in the coming year. However, there is no condition that he will not donate the money if his daughter dies. It is not a logical way to think in this situation. I find that Miriam is not the best choice for this transplant. The hospital already operated before the donation that they received from Miriam's father.

Moreover, the amount they have received can help secure plans to avoid insolvency. Hence, the donation is most likely not genuine but a way to build a reputation. There is no direct link on happiness for a more significant population in Miriam's case. Therefore, I will not choose Miriam for the transplant for two main reasons. First, she has no picture of a future or dreams to ascertain her interest in living longer. Second, there is no guarantee that her father will stop donating to the facility because her daughter died. Therefore, whether or not Miriam's father supports the hospital, the facility will still be in operation to serve the needs of the community.

Patient C Rationale

Lastly, Benji is a 19-year-old boy in his college sophomore. He has ambitions and a whole life he dreams of. He hopes that once he clears college, he will be a doctor. However, his past complications show that his body will reject the available liver. Therefore, there is no need to try the transplant on some whose body will reject, yet there is a person who needs it most. As a surgeon, I would rule out Benji from this transplant. Despite being young and ambitious, there is a higher probability that specific surgery will still fail since his body is incompatible with the available liver. Therefore, instead of trying the process, I would have the transplant on Francis instead of Benji or Miriam.

Conclusion

Conclusively, based on the utilitarian theory, as described by John Stuart Mill, an action has to bring the most incredible amount of happiness to many people while causing no pain (Mill, 2010). Therefore, if either Miriam or Benji dies, there is no more significant pain caused by more people than in Francis' case. Neither Miriam nor Benji has dependents. Miriam has no purpose in life or dreams she aspires to accomplish. She also does not relate well with others, and her death will cause the least pain. On the contrary, Benji is a young man who has ambitions and desires to be a doctor. However, my elimination of him is also affected by the fact that his body is likely to reject the available liver. Since he has no dependents and is simply a college sophomore, his death will not affect many people as that of Francis.

Reference

Mill, J. S. (2010). The essential writings of John Stuart Mill: On Liberty, the subjection of women and utilitarianism. Modern Library.