COMMON SENSE JUSTICE

Common Sense Justice



Common Sense Justice

There are two primary theories of justice within ethics, retributivism, and utilitarianism. Although both philosophies present plausible and worthwhile concepts of justice, they also introduce many problems and complications within their respective theories. Utilitarianism, in particular, highlights the serious problems that are associated with the solutions it presents. Utilitarianism has two problems with its theory of justice: only conditional rights, and skewed distribution of rights; and three problems with its theory of punishment: punishment of the innocent, problems with deterrence, and common sense.

Utilitarianism, in its simplest form, is the greatest good for the greatest number; this is known as the GHP, or greatest happiness principle. The philosophy's intent is to provide a suitable framework to decide which actions are morally correct, or 'good,' and which are morally incorrect, or 'bad.' Utilitarianism roots itself in hedonism, or the idea that each individual is concerned only with actions that bring him or her pleasure (and is therefore concerned with actions that bring a society pleasure as well) - where pleasure can be defined as happiness. If we define a situation S, and actions X and ~X, where ~X is not doing X, then Utilitarianism would say action X should be taken in S if and only if X produces more happiness, or less suffering, than doing ~X in S. In other words, always choose the action whose consequences produce less suffering, and therefore more happiness. However, the more happiness an action results in is not defined merely with respect to an individual, because if an action brings happiness to an individual but suffering to 100 other individuals, then the ratio of suffering verses happiness has clearly increased. Therefore, by definition, utilitarianism concerns itself only with the consequences of an action, and whether those consequences increase happiness to the majority (or a greater number than the number of suffering).

So how is utilitarianism related to justice? Good question, glad you asked! Justice, according to Mill, “concerns those moral duties which involve rights.” However a theory of justice does not simply decide what moral duties individuals are required to follow, it must also include a form of punishment for those of society who do not fulfill their moral duties or impede on the rights of others. As with any theory justifying punishment, utilitarianism must answer two questions: (1) what is the general justification of punishment, and (2) what determines ...