UTILITARIANISM

Utilitarianism is a theory of morality that supports actions that bring about happiness and
opposes actions which bring sadness and pain, not just the happiness of the actor but also everyone
affected by it. It’s a tradition of ethical philosophy that determines right from wrong by focusing on
outcomes.

Utilitarian theories generally share four elements: consequentialism, welfarism, impartiality,

Classical utilitarianism is distinctive because it accepts two additional elements: first, hedonism
as a theory of well being ; second, the total view of population ethics.

Utilitarianism will predict the action is right if it has brought happiness to the greatest number
of people in a society, community and even a group.

Utilitarianism is a reason based approach to determine right and wrong, but it also has its
limitations. It does not account for things like feelings, culture, or justice.

Utilitarianism is mainly in favor of good for the greatest number of people e.g., you display
utilitarianism at work when you take actions to ensure that the office is a positive environment for you
and your co- workers, it aims for the betterment of society as a whole.

When it comes to utilitarianism, everyone’s happiness counts equally, pleasure or happiness is

Utilitarianism accepts consequentialism which is defined as follows:

Consequentialism is the view that the moral rightness of actions (or rules, politics, etc.)
depends on, and only on, the value of their consequences. All actions have consequences, but they are
evaluated differently according to morals such as principles and morals.

In the case of principles, when someone breaks a promise, it has bad consequences as it
usually does but it is also not considered wrong when it comes to saving a life or it is unavoidable.

If the difference in the consequences of alternative actions is not great, some utilitarians would
not regard it as a moral issue.

Utilitarianism puts forward that it is a virtue to improve one’s life better by increasing he good
things in the world and minimizing the dad things. This means striving for pleasure and happiness while
avoiding discomfort or unhappiness.

In utilitarianism, it is possible for the right to be done from a bad motive. Utilitarianism may
however protect the culprit from being blamed or praised.

Utilitarianism also has trouble accounting for values such as justice and individual rights for
example sacrificing one life for a bigger number. This will arguably produce the greatest good for the
greater good, but few would be happy about this because there are no morals in that theory.
 Henry Sidgwick sought to support utilitarianism by showing that it follows from systematic
reflection on the morality of common sense. He reasoned that utilitarianism could solve the difficulties
and perplexities that arise from the vagueness and inconsistencies of common-sense doctrines.

Utilitarians reject moral codes or systems that consist of commands or taboos that are based
on customs, traditions, or orders given by leaders or supernatural beings. Instead utilitarians think that
what makes a morality b true or justified is its positive contribution to human or non-human beings.

Utilitarianism in a political economy

In politics throughout the centuries came up with different principles and they wrestled with a
number of questions such as what constitutes “the greatest amount of good”? How is happiness
defined? How is justice accommodated?

In today politics the government only interferes in the private lives of the citizens so as to
assure safety and security which is in favor of a great number of people although when it comes to
rules and regulations it will always be a subject of debate because there are people who are being
oppressed with some laws.

The ones who are being oppressed are always compensated for by finding a solution for them
that will make them happy and be able to bare the oppressing rules and regulations.

In business and commerce

Utilitarianism is the most common approach to business ethics because of the way that it
accounts for costs and benefits.

The theory asserts that there are two types of utilitarianism practiced in the business world,
act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism.

Act Utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism

Act utilitarianism is used to determine the right action in some set of feasible actions, we
should directly evaluate the actions to see which has the best consequences. This utilitarianism
assesses the moral rightness of only and only of actions. It helps the largest number of people using
the fairest methods possible.

Act utilitarianism often demonstrates the concept that “the end justifies the means” or it’s
worth it.

Rule utilitarianism, what makes an action right is that it conforms to the set of rules that would
have the best utilitarian consequences if they were generally accepted or followed because an action’s
morality depends only on it’s conformity to a rule rather than it’s own consequences. This makes the
most ethical actions possible for the benefit of the people.