What does utilitarianism value?
Utilitarianism is a theory of morality that advocates actions that foster happiness or pleasure and oppose actions that cause unhappiness or harm. When directed toward making social, economic, or political decisions, a utilitarian philosophy would aim for the betterment of society as a whole.
What are key features of utilitarianism?
As explained in Chapter 1: Introduction to Utilitarianism, the core idea of utilitarianism is that we ought to act to improve the well-being of everyone by as much as possible. Utilitarian theories generally share four elements: consequentialism, welfarism, impartiality, and additive aggregationism.
What are the basic principle of utilitarian ethics?
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes. It is a form of consequentialism. Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number.
What is quantitative utilitarianism?
Quantitative utilitarianism is concerned with aggregate utility maximization (i.e., maximizing the overall happiness of everyone) and uses a hedonic calculus to determine the rightness or wrongness of actions.
What makes utilitarianism a good ethical theory?
Utilitarianism is one of the best known and most influential moral theories. Utilitarians believe that the purpose of morality is to make life better by increasing the amount of good things (such as pleasure and happiness) in the world and decreasing the amount of bad things (such as pain and unhappiness).
Which is better qualitative or quantitative utilitarianism?
Qualitative utilitarians argue that mental pleasures and pains are different in kind and superior in quality to purely physical ones. Qualitative utilitarians must consider both quality and quantity. Quantitative utilitarians argue that mental pleasures and pains differ from physical ones only in terms of quantity.