Utilitarianism in its simplest form, states that the morally right action is the one that produces the greatest good, but it does not ask what the means are to achieve it. Jeremy Bentham and later John Stuart Mill are considered the founders of modern utilitarianism and believe that the greatest good is pleasure. John Stuart Mill (1806-73), states that utilitarianism is the moral theory according to which “actions are right in so far as they tend to promote happiness, wrong in so far as they tend to produce the opposite of happiness”. John Harris proposes a "survival lottery" that would minimize the overall number of deaths in a society by arbitrarily sacrificing individuals so that their organs could be used to "give life" to others. Therefore, more lives would be saved thanks to transplants than those taken away by sacrifice. This is a rational proposal, but one that faces many objections due to the moral issues raised, particularly the belief that it is wrong to kill and the importance of human life. This essay will argue that it is reasonable to suggest that a proposal that saves lives is desirable and that killing one to save three or four is probably the doctor's moral duty or responsibility. Despite all this, humans will never accept this scheme either as a loss of freedom or because precious resources could be wasted on those who do not deserve them. John Harris imagines a world where transplant operations are flawless and anyone who needs a transplant can undergo the operation successfully as long as suitable organs are accessible, otherwise the doctor would have to let them die. Y and Z refuse to accept this inevitable death and argue, on utilitarian grounds, that it is better if a human dies and donates his organ... middle of paper... this in itself produces less happiness. Consequently, the main problem with the proposal, no matter how desirable, is that humans will always refuse to accept it simply because of the moral belief that killing is wrong and Peter Singer's main argument that valuable resources could be potentially wasted on those who don't deserve them. Works Cited• Mill, John Stuart. “What kind of proof is the principle of utility susceptible to,” in Utilitarianism. London: Parker, Son and Bourn, 1863.• Bennet, Jonathon Analysis 'Whatever the Consequence' (1966)• Scarre, Geoffrey, Utilitarianism (Chatham: Routledge, 1996.)• Harris, John. The Lottery of Survival, Philosophy 50 (1975)• Harris, John. The Lottery of Survival, Philosophy 50 (1975)• Singer, Peter. Utility and the survival lottery. vol. 52 (1977) • Quinton, Anthony. Utilitarian ethics. Trowbridge: Macmillan. (1989.)