On Sandel 's Criticism Of Utilitarianism

Michael J.Sandel is a professor of The United States department of government in Harvard University,and he is famous for his public calss about justice in the world.Then Michael J.Sandel adapted his open calss to a book which is named after <Justice-What’s the Right Thing to Do?> and this book is published globally. At the beginning of the book, sandel introduces three kinds of justice approach: welfare,freedom and virtue.One of the first kind of justice approach — welfare refers to utilitarianism. Sandel’s point of view is in the critical of welfare and freedom which are two kinds of justice approach, clarifying their claims of moral superiority.The author of my book is to extract Sandel’s critical pieces of utilitarianism,, tried to analyze the context of its criticism.The first chapter of my article tracing the utilitarianism,elobarote the theory origin of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism, dating back to the ancient Greek period experiencing a medieval Christianity ethics thought during the period of edify, preliminary formed after the seventeen century philosopher of Britain and France theoretical contributions. The second chapter mainly elaborates the Sandel’s criticism about classical utilitarianism’s ethics thought from the philosophers Jeremy bentham and John mill.From the basic structure of bentham’s utilitarianism can be briefly summarized as follows: principles of pleasure and pain established on the basis of hedonism, consequences and the principle of the greatest happiness of most people, adheres to the belief of utilitarianism, and some aspects of utilitarianism made corresponding modificationThe third chapter elaborates the Michael Sandel’s criticism of the utilitarianism. Its criticism mainly focused on two aspects: one is the bentham utilitarianism only on consequences, probably in the utilitarian calculation trampling individual rights;Secondly, combined with the same scale to measure and calculation of utilitarianism all sorts of preferences or happiness, will all moral goodness into a single currency, the process is likely to lose something.Sandel also introduced Mill’s idea in the two aspects of the response, but Sandel also think Mill’s opinion to bentham utilitarianism correction is actually gaving up the insistence of utilitarianism.The fourth chapter is an innovative point this article. The author tried to use modern utilitarianism to respond sandel’s criticism.The fifth chapter is this article core content Expounding the Sandel the two core concepts- freedom and the individual rights which are coming from utilitarianism’s justice approach.With the help of sandel’s other works and interview records, a concrete analysis of these two concepts introduce Sandel’s civic virtue to participate in civic republicanism, meanwhile, also analyzes its theoretical limitations.