Doing the Right Thing in Hamlet :: The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays

Doing the Right Thing in sm wholly town When an individual has taken a certain course of execute, who is to determine whether that action taken was right or vituperate? And what basis should the individual red ink judgment use to decide whether that action was right or wrong? Should the individual passing judgment consider the opposite individuals purpose or intent in taking the action, or should he consider the resulting consequences of the other individuals actions? If the individual passing judgment were to choose to do the first of these ii alternatives, he would be taking a deontological stance, as compared to the later which describes the consequentialist view. As Stephen J. Freeman explains, consequentialism is the belief that actions and/or rules are right as bulky as they produce the most favorable consequences for those affected by the actions or rules (Freeman 63). Consequentialists view the morality of a consequence in two aspects. bingle aspect is what is call ed ethical egoism. Ethical egoism is the idea that morality is delineate as acting in ones own interest and in such a way as to maximize the consequences of good over disadvantageously (Freeman 49). In contrast to ethical egoism is utilitarianism. Utilitarianists view morality as when an action promotes the greatest balance of good over bad for all people. Utilitarianism is a teleological, goal-directed theory emphasizing happiness as the give up result of human action (Freeman 49). In Freemans book on ethical motive, he discusses Holmes purpose of two types of teleological ethical theories that apply to these two differing consequentialist views. Holmes proposal is that of micro and macro ethics. Micro ethics regards the happiness of the individual as the highest good and defines what is right as the action that maximizes that end. By definition, micro ethics is very similar to the belief of ethical egoism. On the other hand, macro ethics views happiness as the well-being of a group as a whole and defines what is right as the action that maximizes that end. As apply here, a group can be those people of a particular proposition city, state, nation, or race, and every particular group has greater importance than any particular individual or subgroup within it, because its good exceeds the sum of any and all of its parts (Freeman 49). Those in support of macro ethics would unfreeze the sacrifice of an individual or part within the group, as dour as it brings about beneficial consequences for the group as a whole.