Some values can be sacrificed even though they result in happiness for the largest number of people. Values are meant to promote the good of the greatest number of people. However, the values should cause the least amount of harm. It is the ethical thing to do since a value may not cause happiness to all people, but it should not be used for evilness. When a value causes happiness and suffering due to preferences, a choice should be made, and according to act utilitarianism, consequences of the potential should be analyzed, and the decisions should be made for the greater good (Burns, 2005).
Indicating that “the greatest happiness for the whole human race is the highest good” is ignoring the difference in preferences among the people. It means that a group of people who do not agree with the greatest happiness concept will suffer and they will not be taken into consideration (Burns, 2005). In such a case, act utilitarianism has been ignored, where the consequences of considering the greatest happiness as the highest good have not been analyzed since what is good for some people may cause harm to others.
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The virtue of pain can be used to describe the disappearance of human race and indicating that it is too bad. Pain causes human suffering, and if the human race were to disappear, it would be a sad thing. There are some instinct values such as knowledge and autonomy which can be used to describe the situation. The need to determine the cause of human race disappearance, for instance, helps gains more knowledge on the problem, and the autonomy of such a unique situation.
Reference
Burns, J. H. (2005). Happiness and utility: Jeremy Bentham's equation. Utilitas, 17(1), 46-61.
