Utilitarianism was a movement in the 18th century that soon would become one of the paramount ethical philosophies the world would contemplate. The basic principle of Utilitarianism involves calculation of happiness‚ in which actions are deemed good if they tend to produce pleasure and evil if they promote pain. A fairly simple concept‚ it would coined by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham. Influence by Bentham‚ another philosopher‚ John Stuart Mill would follow with a very similar‚ yet ideologically
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Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is the belief of ‘the greatest good for the happiest and greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong’. Utilitarianism can be characterized as a quantitative and reductionist approach to ethics. It is a type of naturalism. It can be contrasted with deontological ethics‚ which does not regard the consequences of an act as a determinant of its moral worth; virtue ethics‚ which primarily focuses on acts and habits leading to happiness; pragmatic ethics; as
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Utilitarianism was a movement that took off during the enlightenment at the end of the 18th century and through the beginning of the 19th century. The fact that this took off at the same time as the enlightenment is no coincidence‚ as that was when the general public began to lose trust in the church. Utilitarianism is the belief that the most correct action is always what serves the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This was revolutionary in its time because it goes against the major
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Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that states that the right course of action would maximises the most utility. An action is right if the sum total of utilities produced by that act is greater than the sum total utilities produced by any other. Utility is defined in various ways so there are some misunderstandings of using utilitarianism. Utilitarianism states that an action is right when the action produces the most utility for all persons affected by the action so we should compare the utility
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Utilitarianism refers to acts in normative ethics that dictates actions to be the best moral example when actions are able to maximize utility for the society or country in which the actions are being taken. In this case‚ the utility can vary in terms of the meanings that it holds. Utility can be benefit for different individuals. Utility can also be benefit in the form of non-monetary advances that an individual may have. For example‚ if a person kills a serial killer in a community‚ he has a utilitarian
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Consequentialism is an approach to ethics that argues about the morality of an action is depending on the action’s outcome or consequence. Therefore‚ a morally right action is one that produces a good outcome or result‚ and the consequences of an action or rule generally outweigh all other considerations. The term "consequentialism" was coined by Elizabeth Anscombe in her 1958 essay "Modern Moral Philosophy"‚ as a pejorative description of what she saw as the central error of certain moral theories
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In the field of normative ethics‚ utilitarianism is a perennial philosophical view. Utilitarianism holds that a “morally right action is that which produces the most good” and promotes the maximum utility of happiness; for humanity (the aggregate). John Stuart Mill‚ a contributor to the field of utilitarianism‚ embraced Jeremy Bentham’s ‘greatest-happiness principle’ that states “the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong” . Mill offered an alternative to
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Utilitarianism theory is the most widely used ethical theory today‚ and also the most powerful and persuasive approaches to normative ethics in the history of philosophy. It is the rightness or wrongness of an action‚ which determined by its usefulness. It is based on the principle of Utility which John Stuard Mill stated that “Actions are right to the degree that they tend to promote the greatest good for the greatest number.” This means that in any situation‚ where there is a moral choice‚ one
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Utilitarianism is a moral theory which centers on happiness and how we can promote it‚ and is measured by our actions. Utilitarianism explains how human’s ultimate goal is to achieve happiness. This is also called hedonism‚ limiting the amount of pain and equating happiness with pleasure. This theory explains how we aim for happiness through our actions. According to hedonism‚ when a person wishes to act ethically‚ they should strive to produce the greatest possible amount of happiness for the greatest
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This then‚ in great summary‚ is utilitarianism as presented by Mill (sometimes called classical utilitarianism). It is the ethical philosophy that bases right and wrong on the production of happiness. It is also an ethical philosophy that stresses the greatest happiness of the greatest number as seen from an impartial bystander’s perspective. Before we discuss how Mozi’s philosophy can be applied to utilitarian morality‚ a distinction within utilitarianism must be made. Act Utilitarianism vs
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