utilitarianism

nounC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — utility sits at #5,629mostly written

Utilitarianism is the view that the right act brings the most good to the most people. Argue from utilitarianism.

It gives clear answers and some of them are monstrous, which is the standard objection. Utilitarianism underlies a great deal of public policy without ever being named.

Definitions of utilitarianism

1nounutilitarianismThe view that the right act brings the most good to the most people.C1
“Utilitarianism decides most questions in public health whether anybody says so or not.”

utilitarianism is a view.

Where it comes from

From utilitarian + -ism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

utilitarianism in the wild

Some argue that consequentialist theories (such as utilitarianism) and deontological theories (such as Kantian ethics) are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Consequentialism
Classical theories in this vein include utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, and some forms of contractarianism.
Normative ethics
Unlike other forms of consequentialism, such as egoism and altruism, egalitarian utilitarianism considers either the interests of all humanity or all sentient beings equally.
Utilitarianism
There is also disagreement as to whether total utility (total utilitarianism) or average utility (average utilitarianism) should be maximized.
Utilitarianism
Preference utilitarianism (also known as preferentialism) is a form of utilitarianism in contemporary philosophy.
Preference utilitarianism

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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