Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is a Normative Ethical theory that proposes that the best action is the one that maximizes utility. utility The word can be defined in many ways, but it usually has to do with pleasure, happiness, and the well-being of sentient entities. Utilitarianism focuses on the outcome of an action; therefore it is a form of Consequentialism.

Proponents of utilitarianism have disagreed on a number of points, such as whether actions should be chosen based on their likely results (act utilitarianism) or whether agents should conform to rules that maximize utility (rule utilitarianism). There is also disagreement as to whether total (total utilitarianism) or average (average utilitarianism) utility should be maximized.

Forms

• Total utilitarianism: The view that the total amount of utility should be advocated.
• Average utilitarianism: The view that the average amount of utility should be advocated.
• Preference utilitarianism: The view that the action that fulfills the preferences of the most amount of agents involved is
• Act utilitarianism: The view that the best action is the one that maximizes the highest amount of utility.
• Rule utilitarianism: The view that one should follow a rule or set of rules that increase utility.
• Negative Utilitarianism: The view we should focus more on decreasing pain rather than increasing pleasure.

See also

• Consequentialism
• Normative ethics

References

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