utilitarianism

(yo͞o'tĭlĭtr`ēənĭzəm, yo͞otĭ'–), in ethics, the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happiness of all those affected by it. Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism, which advocates that those actions are right which bring about the most good overall. Jeremy BenthamBentham, Jeremy,
1748–1832, English philosopher, jurist, political theorist, and founder of utilitarianism. Educated at Oxford, he was trained as a lawyer and was admitted to the bar, but he never practiced; he devoted himself to the scientific analysis of morals and
..... Click the link for more information. identified good consequences with pleasure, which is measured in terms of intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent. John Stuart MillMill, John Stuart,
1806–73, British philosopher and economist. A precocious child, he was educated privately by his father, James Mill. In 1823, abandoning the study of law, he became a clerk in the British East India Company, where he rose to become head of the examiner's
..... Click the link for more information. argued that pleasures differ in quality as well as quantity and that the highest good involves the highest quality as well as quantity of pleasure. Herbert SpencerSpencer, Herbert,
1820–1903, English philosopher, b. Derby. In 1848 he moved to London, where he was an editor at The Economist and wrote his first major book, Social Statics (1851), which tried to establish a natural basis for political action.
..... Click the link for more information. developed an evolutionary utilitarian ethics in which the principles of ethical living are based on the evolutionary changes of organic development. G. E. Moore, in his Principia Ethica (1903), presented a version of utilitarianism in which he rejected the traditional equating of good with pleasure. Later in the 20th cent., versions of utilitarianism have been propounded by J. J. C. Smart and R. M. Hare.

Bibliography

See J. J. C. Smart and B. Williams, Utilitarianism (1973); A. Sen and B. Williams, ed., Utilitarianism and Beyond (1982).

utilitarianism

a philosophical school of thought which holds that UTILITY entails the greatest happiness of the greatest number. It is usually associated with Jeremy BENTHAM (1748-1832) and John Stuart MILL (1806-73), although some would argue that the earlier philosophical works of HOBBES, HUME and LOCKE are also utilitarian. This philosophy holds that the realization of utility should be the proper goal in life, but may be hindered by selfish prejudice and ignorance. Behaviour which enhances happiness and reduces pain ought to be encouraged and behaviour which increases unhappiness ought to be proscribed. Utilitarianism, therefore, implies a model of social action in which individuals rationally pursue their own self-interests, with SOCIETY being no more than the aggregation of individuals brought together in the realization of their individual goals. Bentham applied these principles to ECONOMICS, SOCIAL POLICY and LAW. Utilitarianism influenced the creation of many of the 19th-century institutions, many of which still survive, such as the prison and the asylum (see PANOPTICAN). SPENCER was influenced by utilitarian ideas, although DURKHEIM was critical, arguing that SOCIAL ORDER is the outcome of cultural traditions that are not reducible to individual interests. See also JUSTICE.

Utilitarianism

(1) The principle of appraising all phenomena from the point of view of their usefulness or ability to serve as a means for achieving some purpose.

(2) A trend in ethics that considers usefulness to be the basis of morality and the criterion of human behavior. It enjoyed wide popularity in Great Britain in the 19th century, reflecting the viewpoint of certain elements of the English liberal bourgeoisie.

J. Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, considered the basis of morality to be usefulness, which he identified with pleasure, or happiness. Departing from the naturalistic and extrahistorical understanding of the nature of man, Bentham saw the final purpose of morality as aiding the natural urge of man to experience pleasure and avoid suffering. According to Bentham, the essence of ethical norms and principles consisted in bringing about “the greatest happiness for the greatest number of individuals.” He considered the general prosperity to be the sum of the good of all individuals. In the words of Marx, Bentham “takes the modern shopkeeper, especially the English shopkeeper, as the normal man. Whatever is useful to this queer normal man, and to his world, is absolutely useful” (K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 23, p. 623, note).

The bourgeois point of view is further reflected in Bentham’s ethics in that he brings the problem of moral choice down to the simple calculation of profit and loss—the pleasure and suffering that various acts may entail. John Stuart Mill tried to modify the egoistic features of utilitarian ethics and, as a result, arrived at an eclectic combination of various principles.

REFERENCES

Mill, J. S. Utilitarianism, 3rd ed. St. Petersburg [1900]. (Translated from English.)
Stephen, L. The English Utilitarians, vols. 1–3. London, 1900.
See also references under BENTHAM, JEREMY, and MILL, JOHN STUART.

O. G. DROBNITSKII

utilitarianism

Ethics1. the doctrine that the morally correct course of action consists in the greatest good for the greatest number, that is, in maximizing the total benefit resulting, without regard to the distribution of benefits and burdens 2. the theory that the criterion of virtue is utility

Utilitarianism

In Jurisprudence, a philosophy whose adherents believe that law must be made to conform to its most socially useful purpose. Although utilitarians differ as to the meaning of the word useful, most agree that a law's utility may be defined as its ability to increase happiness, wealth, or justice. Conversely, some utilitarians measure a law's usefulness by its ability to decrease unhappiness, poverty, or injustice.The utilitarianism movement originated in Great Britain during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when philosophers Jeremy Bentham, John Austin, John Stuart Mill, and Henry Sidgwick began criticizing various aspects of the Common Law. Bentham, the progenitor of the movement, criticized the law for being written in dense and unintelligible prose. He sought to cut through the thicket of legal verbiage by reducing law to what he thought were its most basic elements—pain and pleasure.

Bentham believed that all human behavior is motivated by a desire to maximize pleasure and avoid pain. Yet he observed that law is often written in vague terms of rights and obligations. For example, a law might say that a person has a right to take action under one set of circumstances but an obligation to refrain from action under different circumstances. Bentham thought that law could be simplified by translating the language of rights and obligations into a pain-pleasure calculation.

Utilitarians have tried to apply Bentham's hedonistic calculus to Criminal Law. They assert that punishment is a form of government imposed pain. At the same time, utilitarians believe that criminals break the law only because they do not fully comprehend the confusing language of rights and obligations. Accordingly, utilitarians conclude that law must be stripped of such confusing terms and redrafted in language that equates socially undesirable conduct with pain and socially desirable conduct with pleasure.

Utilitarians measure the desirability of human conduct by the amount of happiness it generates in society. They maintain that the ultimate aim of any law should be to promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Utilitarians would permit conduct that produces more happiness in society than unhappiness and would proscribe conduct that results in more unhappiness than happiness. Some utilitarians envision a democratic society where the happiness and unhappiness produced by a particular measure would be determined precisely by giving everyone the right to vote on the issue. Thus, those in power would know exactly how the citizenry felt about every issue.

Although the application of utilitarian principles may strengthen majority rule, unfettered democracy can lead to tyranny. Utilitarians are frequently criticized for sacrificing the interests of minorities to achieve majoritarian satisfaction. In a pure utilitarian form of government, a voting majority could pass laws to enslave minority groups as long as the institution of Slavery continued to satisfy a preponderance of the population. Concepts such as Equal Protection, human dignity, and individual liberty would be recognized only to the extent that a majority of the population valued them.

Modern utilitarians have attempted to soften the harshness of their philosophy by expanding the definition of social utility. Law and economics is a school of modern utilitarianism that has achieved prominence in legal circles. Proponents of law and economics believe that all law should be based on a cost-benefit analysis in which judges and lawmakers seek to maximize societal wealth in the most efficient fashion. Here the term wealth possesses both pecuniary and nonpecuniary qualities. The non-pecuniary qualities of wealth may include the right to self-determination and other fundamental freedoms that society deems important, including Freedom of Speech and religion. Under such an analysis, institutions like slavery that deny basic individual liberties would be declared illegal because they decrease society's overall nonpecuniary wealth.

Economic analysis of law has more practical applications as well. richard a. posner, chief judge for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals from 1993 to 2000, is a pioneer in the law and economics movement. He advocates applying economic analysis of law to most legal disputes. For example, in Negligence actions Posner believes that liability should be imposed only after a court weighs three factors: the pecuniary injury suffered by the plaintiff, the cost to the defendant in taking precautions against injurious behavior, and the probability that a particular injury could have been avoided by the defendant. This cost-benefit analysis is widely accepted and is applied in negligence actions by both state and federal courts. Thus, through economic analysis of law, utilitarianism and its permutations continue to influence legal thinking in the United States.

Cross-references

Chicago School; Dworkin, Ronald Myles.

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Words related to utilitarianism

noun doctrine that the useful is the good

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