Utilitarianism
Document Type
Encyclopedia Entry
Publication Date
1996
Editor(s)
Joseph James Chambliss
ISBN
9780815311775
Publisher
Garland Publishing Company
Language
en-US
Abstract
The moral theory that holds that conduct must be judged solely by its consequences, or the more specific version claiming that actions should promote human welfare as much as possible. The generic theory is now called "consequentialism." Consequentialists whose conception of the good consequences to be promoted includes abstract values such as truth or beauty, are said to embrace "ideal utilitarianism." Those who endorse the species known as utilitarianism maintain that the basic value we should serve is the good of individual people.
Recommended Citation
David B. Lyons,
Utilitarianism
,
in
Philosophy of Education: An Encyclopedia
651
(Joseph James Chambliss ed.,
1996).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/2515
