Phil 2030
Prof. McCammon
December 10, 2014
Section 1:
Climate change does not maximize happiness of the human population; therefore, the
people should act in ways that reduce or weaken climate change whether it be by law or by
choice. According to utilitarianism, a individual’s actions should better others rather than just
themselves; therefore, one should be willing to sacrifice their pleasure for someone else’s
happiness. There are many ways one can stabilize or reduce climate change or even prepare for
it, but in order to this, individuals must be willing to risk their happiness for someone they may
or may not even know. One may not notice the effects of climate change now, but that does not
mean they are not happening all around. Climate change will cause many problems for the
human population over time and will only continue to get worse. Not only for the present
generation, but for the future generation also. As time progresses, the more people there are and
the more carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere, the harder it gets to solve the climate change
issues at hand. When it does get worse, people will then try to make the changes that they should
have been making before, but then it might be too late. Even though there is no way to calculate
or get an exact percentage of all the pain in the world caused by individual contributions toward
climate change, one can see the effects it is having against the human population and the health
of individuals.
Section 2:
“Utilitarianism is a moral theory that says we can judge the rightness or wrongness of our
actions based on the results they produce (Hatch).” Therefore, the right action is not always when
one makes a good decision, but is when the consequences of that decision are the ones that
maximize the total happiness of individuals other than oneself. According to utilitarianism, one
should be willing to risk some of their happiness for the happiness of others. There are many
effects of climate change that is threatening for the environment. Three main effects are rising
temperatures, extreme weather events like hurricanes, and an increase in diseases occurring
(Hatch). These are not only threatening to the environment, but also the human population.
Rising temperatures could cause droughts; this would cause a lack in resources, mainly food and
water. This would force people to fight over resources, and probably end up with the rich or
