What Is Utilitarianism?

Utilitarianism is a theory of morality that supports actions that foster happiness or pleasure. It opposes actions that cause unhappiness or harm. A utilitarian philosophy would aim for the betterment of society as a whole when it's directed toward making social, economic, or political decisions.

Utilitarianism would advocate that an action is right if it results in the happ💯iness of the greatest number of people in a society or a group.

Understanding Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is a tradition of ethical philosophy that's associated with Jeremy Bentham (1747-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873🗹ꦫ), two British philosophers, economists, and political thinkers. The theory holds that an action is right if it tends to promote happiness. It's wrong if it tends to produce sadness or the reverse of happiness for everyone affected by it.

You display utilitarianism at work wܫhen you take action to ensure that the office is a positive environment for your co-workers, and then you make it so for yourself.

3 Gen𒐪erally Accepted Principles of Utilitarianism

• Pleasure or happiness is the only thing that has intrinsic value. Intrinsic value implies that something is good in itself. It contrasts with instrumental value: something has instrumental value when it serves as a means to an end.
  
• Actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong if they promote unhappiness. This principle is quite controversial because it implies that the moral quality of an action is decided by the size of its consequences. Utilitarianism doesn't care whether the results are driven by immoral motives, provided that an action produces maximum benefits for the greatest number of people. This principle can be refuted, however, because most people would agree that the moral quality of an action depends on the motive or intention behind it.
• Everyone's happiness counts equally. This axiom may seem quite obvious, but the principle of equality was radical and progressive in Bentham's time. It was commonly accepted that some lives and some people's happiness were simply more important and valuable than others. Betham's principle of equality makes the government responsible for creating policies that would benefit all equally, not just the elite.

The Founders of Utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham describes his "greatest happiness principle" in "Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation," a 1789 publication. He wrote, "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do."

John Stuart Mill had many years to absorb and reflect on Jeremy Bentham's thoughts on utilitarianism by the time he published his work, "Utilitarianism," in 1863. The key passage from this book states:

"The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals utility, or the greatest happiness principle, holds that actions are right in proportion 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 unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure."

Utilitarianism's Relevance in a Political Economy

The progenitors of utilitarianism have spawned variants and extensions of its core principles in ওliberal democracies throughout the centuries. Some questions they wrestled with include:

• What constitutes the greatest amount of good?
• How is happiness defined?
• How is justice accommodated?

Policymakers are generally proponents of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:free markets in Western democracies, and some base level of government interference in the private lives of citizens to assure safety and security. The appropriate amount of regulation and laws will always be a subject of debate, but political and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:economic policies are geared primarily toward fostering as much well-beiဣng for as many people as possible.

Most politicians would seek to find a remedy for disadvantaged groups that suffer from income inequality o𓃲r other negative consequences resulting from a utilitarian-based policy or action.

Utilitarianism's Relevance in the Workplace

Companies typically have a formal or informal 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:code of ethics that's shaped by their corporate 🌱culture, values, and regional laws. Having a formalized code of business ethics has become more important than ever.

A business not only has to increase its 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bottom line if it's going to grow, but it must also create a reputation for being 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:socially responsible. Companies must endeavor to keep their promises and put ethics at least on par with profits. Consumers are looking for companies they can trust, and employees work better when there's a solid model of ethics in 💞place.

Everyone's happiness will increase if you make morally correct decisions at work, but your happiness and that of your colleagues will decrease if you choose to do something morally wrong, even if it's legal.

Utilitarianism's Relevance in Business

Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number. It's the only moral framework that can justify military force or war. Utilitarianism is the most common approach to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:business ethics as well because of the way it accounts for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:costs and benefits.

The theory asserts that there are two types of utilitarian ethics practiced in the business world: "rule" utilitarianism and "act" utilitarianism.

• Rule utilitarianism helps the largest number of people using the fairest possible methods.
• Act utilitarianism makes the most ethical actions possible for the benefit of the people.

"Rule" Utilitarian Ethics

An example of rule utilitarianism in business is tiered pricing for a product or service for different types of customers. Many planes offer first-, business-, and economy-class seats in the airline industry. Customers who fly in first or business class pay a much higher rate than those in economy seats, but they also get more amenities. People who can't afford upper-class seats benefit from the economy rates. This practice produces the highest good for the greatest number of people.

The airline benefits as well. The expensive upper-class seats help to ease 💫the financial burden the airline created by making room for economy-class seats.

"Act" Utilitarian Ethics

An example of act utilitarianism would be when pharmaceutical companies release drugs that have been governmentally approved but with minor known side effects. They do so because the drug can help more people than those who are bothered by the side effects. Act utilitarianism often demonstrates the concept that "the end justifies the means" or it's at least worth it.

Quantitative Utilitaris꧂m vs. Qu𒈔alitative Utilitarism

Quantitative utilitarianism is a branch of utilitarianism that was developed from the work of Jeremy Bentham. Quantitative utilitarians focus on utility maximization, maximizing the overall happiness of everyone. They use a hedonic approach to determine the rightness or wrongness of actions. Bentham defined the foundation of his philosophy as the principle that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong."

Qualitative utilitarianism is a branch of utilitarianism that arose from the work of John Stuart Mill. Qualitative utilitarians categorize pleasures and pains more qualitatively depending on💧 the level of their consequences, and they disregard any qua🌊ntifiable proof of their importance.

The Limitations of Utilitarianism

Utilitarian ethics are difficult to achieve in the workplace, however. These ethics can be challenging to maintain in our business culture where a capitalistic economy often teaches people to focus on themselves at the expense of others. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Monopolistic competition similarly teaches one business to flourish a💜t th🍸e expense of others.

A limitation of utilitarianism is that it tends to create a black-and-white construct of morality. There are n🌳o shades of gray in utilitarian ethics.♛ Something is either wrong or it is right.

Utilitarianism can't predict with certainty whether the consequences of our actions will be good or bad because the results of our actions happen in the future.

Utilitarianism has trouble accounting for values like justice and individual rights. Say a hospital has four people whose lives depend upon receiving various organ transplants: a heart, lungs, a kidney, and a liver. A healthy person's organs could be harvested to save four lives at the expense of their one life if they wander into the hospital. This would arguably produce the greatest good for the greatest number but few would consider it an acceptable course of action let alone an ethical one.

The Bottom Line

Utilitarianism offers a relatively simple method for deciding the morally correct course of action for any particular situation. The principle of utilitarianism has been refined and expanded in many variations over the years. Utilitarians describe benefits and harms in terms of the satisfaction of personal preferences or in purely economic terms of monetary benefits over monetary costs rather than in terms of "happiness" and "pleasure."