Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism
A philosophy that bases the moral worth of an action upon the number of people it gives happiness or pleasure to. A utilitarian philosophy is used when making social, economic or political decisions for the "betterment of society". In utilitarianism, an action is considered to have utility only to the extent that it contributes to the overall good.  

The philosophy of utilitarianism was first proposed and discussed by John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham in the mid-1800s.


Taken to economic extremes, utilitarianism can allow for some to suffer so that the masses can benefit. However, problems occur because it is nearly impossible to objectively measure the benefit of an action from one person to another, or on a large group of people. In a broad sense, most government policies aim for the betterment of a large group of people, if not the overall population.  



Investment dictionary. . 2012.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Utilitarianism — utilitarianism …   Philosophy dictionary

  • Utilitarianism — utilitarianism …   Dictionary of sociology

  • Utilitarianism — • A modern form of the Hedonistic ethical theory which teaches that the end of human conduct is happiness, and that consequently the discriminating norm which distinguishes conduct into right and wrong is pleasure and pain Catholic Encyclopedia.… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • utilitarianism — index casuistry Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 utilitarianism …   Law dictionary

  • Utilitarianism — U*til i*ta ri*an*ism, n. 1. The doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the end and aim of all social and political institutions. Bentham. [1913 Webster] 2. The doctrine that virtue is founded in utility, or that… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • utilitarianism — 1827, from UTILITARIAN (Cf. utilitarian) + ISM (Cf. ism) …   Etymology dictionary

  • utilitarianism — ► NOUN 1) the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority. 2) the doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct …   English terms dictionary

  • utilitarianism — [yo͞o til΄ə ter′ē əniz΄əm] n. 1. the doctrine that the worth or value of anything is determined solely by its utility 2. the doctrine, developed by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, that the purpose of all action should be to bring about the… …   English World dictionary

  • Utilitarianism — This article discusses utilitarian ethical theory. For a discussion of John Stuart Mill s book Utilitarianism, see Utilitarianism (book). For the architectural theory, see Utilitarianism (architecture) Part of a series on …   Wikipedia

  • utilitarianism — /yooh til i tair ee euh niz euhm/, n. the ethical doctrine that virtue is based on utility, and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of persons. [1820 30; UTILITARIAN + ISM] * * * Ethical… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”