Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism brilliantly expounds a pragmatic ethic based on one controversial proposition.

Mill believed that happiness was the only thing humans do and should desire for its own sake. Since happiness is the only intrinsic good, and since more happiness is preferable to less, the goal of ethical life is to maximize happiness.

How do we decide what is “good” and what is “bad”? According to the ethical theory of Utilitarianism, to do good is to “always perform that act, of those available, that will bring the most happiness or the least unhappiness.” By far the most widely read introduction to this theory.

Mill’s Utilitarianism is one of the most important and controversial works of moral philosophy ever written. From common-day dilemmas to large-scale social decisions, this exposition remains as relevant today as it was to intellectual and moral dilemmas of the nineteenth century.