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Bentham's Utilitarianism and Individual Rights
Venclík, Jan ; Znoj, Milan (advisor) ; Bíba, Jan (referee)
The aim of this B. A. thesis is to clarify the status of individual rights within Bentham's philosophy. The exposition is divided into two main parts. Bentham's critique of natural rights is discussed in the first part. Especially, his critique of declarations of natural rights issued during the French revolution is carefully analysed and assessed. Bentham uncompromisingly rejected these declaration on the ground that they were false and dangerous. Subsequently is shown to what extent there can be justification of the primacy of individual rights in relation to interference of political authority in the whole context of Bentham's philosophical system, which is based on the principle of utility. The key concept here is that of expectation and secondary security-providing principle is particularly important. There are two contending conceptions. On the one hand we see liberal conception of individual pursuing her own happiness, on the other hand there is racionalistic idea of legislator who manipulate the whole society according to the dictate of utility. The gap could be filled if we did not understand the principle of utility as moral arithmetic capable of solving every problem. We can conclude that basic logic of Bentham's utilitarinism is limited by significant truths about human condition and...
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Bentham's Utilitarianism and Individual Rights
Venclík, Jan ; Znoj, Milan (advisor) ; Bíba, Jan (referee)
The aim of this B. A. thesis is to clarify the status of individual rights within Bentham's philosophy. The exposition is divided into two main parts. Bentham's critique of natural rights is discussed in the first part. Especially, his critique of declarations of natural rights issued during the French revolution is carefully analysed and assessed. Bentham uncompromisingly rejected these declaration on the ground that they were false and dangerous. Subsequently is shown to what extent there can be justification of the primacy of individual rights in relation to interference of political authority in the whole context of Bentham's philosophical system, which is based on the principle of utility. The key concept here is that of expectation and secondary security-providing principle is particularly important. There are two contending conceptions. On the one hand we see liberal conception of individual pursuing her own happiness, on the other hand there is racionalistic idea of legislator who manipulate the whole society according to the dictate of utility. The gap could be filled if we did not understand the principle of utility as moral arithmetic capable of solving every problem. We can conclude that basic logic of Bentham's utilitarinism is limited by significant truths about human condition and...
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Transcending egoism through utilitarianism
Vaškovic, Petr ; Jirsa, Jakub (advisor) ; Hill, James (referee)
This bachelor's thesis transcending egoism through utilitarianism deals with the problem of egoism in connection to moral acts, especially in connection to the motivation of moral action. Main focus of the thesis is on the problem of egoism, which seems to be one of the main motivating powers, usually negative, that is preventing individual from following his moral judgment. Transcending the negative influence of egoism is possible through adopting a certain impersonal viewpoint. This tendency, namely the aspiration to achieve an impersonal viewpoint can be found in utilitarianism. Utilitarianism in its foundations works with an Epicurean, therefore more or less egoistically hedonistic view of morality, with a tendency of an individual to follow pleasure and avoid pain. Impersonal character of utilitarianism, that aspect of utilitarianism, which is capable of transcending egoism, is the aspect which will be most important for this thesis. The ability of utilitarianism to transcend the personal viewpoint will be the core of the argument, which will help us in transcending egoism. Keywords Ethics, egoism, motivation, utilitarianism, Bentham, Mill, Scheffler, Hare
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