Ethics is what defines a person's character. How a person should behave in society. But how do we justify our acts as ethical? One idea suggests that an act is ethical if it benefits the greatest number of people. By doing this, you are simply benefiting the entire population instead of causing any kind of harm. That is why laws set by the government or sacred dialects are considered ethical and the code of conduct that should be followed by every individual. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the field of business, utilitarianism applies to decision making. If the decision benefits the entire company, then it is adopted and implemented immediately. In the case of criminal justice we use this approach to test and establish punishment for criminals by determining based on their acts and to what extent that act affected society. All these normative ethics are tested using the utilitarian approach. It seems very simple to say that one's act is ethical and is widely used today in the practical world. Utilitarian ethics can be applied to virtually anything and can shine when dealing with complex situations with multiple competing factors. However, it is sometimes laborious and burdensome to implement and its results can be counterintuitive. Let's consider what happens to the minority group? Has anyone noticed that their rights have been violated? When viewed from this perspective, this approach is unethical for all minority groups. We as human beings have no control over someone else's life. If that business decision leads to the closure of other small businesses. Maybe that criminal decision isn't right for everyone. We've all heard about the Nazi hypothermia experiment. In this a small group of people was selected and tested with a drug. The scientists involved in this claimed that this drug would serve a medicinal purpose and to find a cure for serious diseases. But the experiment failed and 300 people suffered. They were suffering, tortured and devastated. Many of them died in the process. Was it ethical to do so? Why did those 300 people have to suffer? The scientist reported no response. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay Another example, the most famous blue whale game. That game had many levels and to pass any level you have to complete the required task. The tasks included cutting his wrist, jumping off a cliff, hanging himself from a fan, and so on. These are those acts widely performed by people who are victims of depression and low self-esteem. The creator of the game said that it was about eradicating from society all those people who do not bring any benefit to society. A good approach? According to utilitarianism this would be ethical, but it is the completely opposite case. To conclude, utilitarianism should not be the only approach used to claim something ethical, we must look from every perspective, see if our acts are not taking away someone else's rights. Then our acts would be ethical and moral.