UTILITARIANISM:

THE ROAD TO GREATEST HAPPINESS

 INTRODUCTION
What is Utilitarianism?

Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an

action is solely determined by its contribution to overall
utility in maximizing happiness or pleasure as summed
among all people.

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 INTRODUCTION
What is Utilitarianism?

In utilitarianism, good is defined as the existence of

pleasure and the absence of pain. This is called utility. An
action that maximizes utility is one that maximizes total
benefits while reducing negative consequences for the
largest number of people.

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 INTRODUCTION
History of Utilitarianism

The origins of Utilitarianism are often traced back to the

Epicureanism of the followers of the Greek philosopher
Epicurus. It can be argued that David Hume and
Edmund Burke were proto-Utilitarians. But as a
specific school of thought, it is generally credited to the
English philosopher Jeremy Bentham

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 INTRODUCTION
History of Utilitarianism

Bentham found pain and pleasure to be the only

intrinsic values in the world, and this he derived the rule
of utility: that the good is whatever brings the greatest
happiness to the greatest number of people.

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 TYPES OF UTILITARIANISM
Act Utilitarianism

▫ Act Utilitarianism (or Case Utilitarianism) states

that, when faced with a choice, we must first consider
the likely consequences of potential actions in that
particular case and, from that, choose to do what we
believe will generate the most overall happiness.

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 TYPES OF UTILITARIANISM
Rule Utilitarianism

▫ Rule Utilitarianism states that, when faced with a

choice, we must look at potential rules of action to
determine whether the generalized rule produces
more happiness than otherwise, if it were to be
constantly followed.

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 TYPES OF UTILITARIANISM
Two-level Utilitarianism

▫ Two-Level Utilitarianism states that normally we

should use "intuitive" moral thinking, in the form of
Rule Utilitarianism, because it usually maximizes
happiness.

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 TYPES OF UTILITARIANISM
Motive Utilitarianism

▫ Motive Utilitarianism states that our initial moral

task is to inculcate motives within ourselves (by
means of teaching and repetition) that will be
generally useful across the spectrum of the actual
situations we are likely to encounter, rather than
hypothetical examples which are unlikely to occur.

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 TYPES OF UTILITARIANISM
Total Utilitarianism

▫ Total Utilitarianism advocates measuring the utility

of a population based on the total utility of its
members.

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 TYPES OF UTILITARIANISM
Average Utilitarianism

▫ Average Utilitarianism advocates measuring the

utility of a population based on the average utility of
that population.

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 TYPES OF UTILITARIANISM
Negative Utilitarianism

▫ Negative Utilitarianism requires us to promote the

least amount of evil or harm, or to prevent the
greatest amount of suffering, for the greatest number
(as opposed to the general, or positive, Utilitarian rule
of the greatest amount of good for the greatest
number).

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 COMPARISON
Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Virtue Ethics

UTILITARIANISM DEONTOLOGY VIRTUE ETHICS

• Morality is about good • Morality is about good
outcomes. people
• Morality is about good
• We should make rules • We should strive to
decisions based on what become more
• We should come up with
will most likely result in courageous, honest,
a logical system of moral
the outcomes we want. generous, and
rules and always follow it
compassionate. Such a
• “The ends justify the no matter what
person will make good
means”. moral decisions on their
own without the need for
abstract moral rules

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 UTILITARIANISM
The Greatest Happiness

Something is good if it does more good than harm for a

lot of people. In utilitarianism, this is called the greatest
happiness principle, which states that a moral action is
one that increases the total utility in the world.

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 UTILITARIANISM
The Greatest Happiness

In other words, if an action is moral, it increases the

amount of happiness in the world. This allows actions to
be ranked by morality. If an action makes one person
happy, it is moral. However, if another action would
make many people happy, it is more moral.
▫  

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