Utilitarianism: The Greater Good
Read this article which presents difficulties with calculating benefits and various utilitarian responses to those difficulties. Be able to define hedonistic and idealistic utilitarianism, soft and hard utilitarianism, and the difference between act and rule.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Utilitarianism judges specific decisions by examining the decision's consequences.
- Utilitarianism defines right and wrong in terms of the happiness of a society's members.
- Utilitarian ethics defines an act as good when its consequences bring the greatest good or happiness to the greatest number of people.
- There are a variety of specific forms of utilitarianism.
- Theoretically, utilitarianism is straightforward, but in practical terms it can be difficult to measure the happiness of individuals.