act utilitarianism — Version of utilitarianism associated especially with Bentham, according to which the measure of the value of an act is the amount by which it increases general utility or happiness. An act is to be preferred to its alternatives according to the… … Philosophy 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
utilitarianism — The ethical theory advanced by Bentham, both James and J. S. Mill, Sidgwick, and many others, that answers all questions of what to do, what to admire, or how to live, in terms of maximizing utility or happiness. As well as an ethical theory,… … Philosophy dictionary
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 (book) — John Stuart Mill s book Utilitarianism is a philosophical defense of utilitarianism in ethics. The essay first appeared as a series of three articles published in Fraser s Magazine in 1861; the articles were collected and reprinted as a single… … Wikipedia
utilitarianism — n. an ethical theory holding that utility is morally important and should always be maximized. There are different definitions of utility but all relate to the consequences of actions as opposed to the intentions or principles behind them (see… … The new mediacal dictionary
Two-level utilitarianism — is a utilitarian theory of ethics developed by R. M. Hare.cite book |last=McNaughton |first=David A. |title=Moral Vision |year=1988 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |pages=177 |isbn=0631159452] According to the theory, a person s moral decisions… … Wikipedia
Rule utilitarianism — is a form of utilitarianism which states that moral actions are those which conform to the rules which lead to the greatest good, or that the rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it… … Wikipedia
Preference utilitarianism — is quite probably the most popular form of utilitarianism in contemporary philosophy. In the same way as other utilitarian theorists, preference utilitarians define a morally right action as that which produces the most favourable consequences… … Wikipedia
