Position:Home>Philosophy> What is the Principle of Utility?

haha its not only about electrical bills, tho that is a good example!.
utilitarianism is that the moral worth (or just plain worth really) of an action or decision is the sum of all the good and bad of all that are affected by the action!.

a real life example of this, and i hope i don't offend anyone here, is china's one child policy!. individuals give up the right to have more than one child!. overall you can argue that the slowing of the growth of the what was the most populous nation in the world was best for the nation as a whole!. very utilitarian in a way that makes sense to all of us!. this is also true for the slow growth movement!.

one good argument against utilitarianism is that we often can't agree to the evaluation of the good or the bad consequences of any given action!.
in any case!. in the case of the free market economy, some argue that the free market is the best - let everyone pursue the good as they see fit!. the downside of that argument is that there are great disparities of wealth and poverty, the weak suffer, but arguably less than all the good the market has done!.

this argument against utilitarianism is summed famously by the seminal economist J Maynard Keynes - "In the long run we're all dead men";

its hard to impose a long term view on the good (for instance) when some people need to eat right now!. certainly the poor will not generally buy into the free market argument!.

there are many arguments, but utilitarianism persists because it generates very tangible plans!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

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!.!.!.simply: utilitarianism is a consequential theory that means that the
ends justify the means!.!.!.
!.!.!.be happy!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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It means the electric company and the water works on the Monopoly board!. People roll a die and pay $10 time the roll of the die!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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