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What Is Utilitarianism?

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Recommended: The arguments of utilitarianism

The main principle of utilitarianism is “the right action in any situation is the one that tends to produce the greatest possible balance of happiness over unhappiness for the greatest possible number.” (pg. 128). In other words, which course of action is going to produce the most happiness. For example, if a person does the right thing it will lead to their happiness, if the person chooses to do the wrong thing then it will cause them to be unhappy. The “Utility Principle which is also known as the Greatest Happiness Principle.” (pg. 128) is a consequential theory, which uses a mathematical approach to finding the right action for the situation. When using this principle, we calculate the net utility by “subtracting the unhappiness produced
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John Stuart Mill, at the very beginning of chapter 2 entitled “what is utilitarianism”. starts off by explaining to the readers what utility is, Utility is defined as pleasure itself, and the absence of pain. This leads us to another name for utility which is the greatest happiness principle. Mill claims that “actions are right in proportions as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” “By Happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain, by happiness, pain and the privation of pleasure”.

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