Utilitarianism

Synonyms

Act-utilitarianism; Consequentialism; Rule-utilitarianism

Definition

Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory of ethics that promotes actions that tend to produce the greatest amount of welfare or happiness and deems immoral those actions that tend to do otherwise.

Introduction

Although other philosophers have supported ethical theories with utilitarian considerations, Jeremy Bentham is considered to be the first to systematize an ethics based on utility (Shaw 1999). Bentham, and his supporters, hoped that their utilitarian approach would serve as a radical reforming of social, political, and legal institutions (1999). Other prominent proponents of utilitarian ethics include John Stuart Mill, Henry Sedgewick, and Peter Singer.

At the core of any utilitarian ethics, is principle of utility (also known as the greatest happiness principle). The greatest happiness principle posits the following: Any action that produces the greatest amount of welfare or happiness are right and...