Difference Between Utilitarianism And Relativism

The difference between utilitarianism and relativism is that in utilitarianism, something is good when it does the good for the most people. For example killing thousands of people to save billions. This is in reference to when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan. It killed thousands of people, but it was for the good of the world, and ended World War II. Another example from our textbook is of the trolley problem, where five people were on the track and the train was headed their way. They would surely be killed if the train continues. However, there is a switch that the train could be diverted into, and one person is on that track. According to utilitarianism, “you would be permitted and required to pull the switch.”