What is utilitarianism?

In his brief essay Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill provides a very succinct account of the Utility Principle.

However, this deceptively simple principle is not the whole story. Utilitarianism is a broad tradition of philosophical and social thought, not a single principle. The central utilitarian idea is that morality and politics are (and should be) centrally concerned with the promotion of happiness. While Mill's principle is one expression of this basic idea, there are many others. In particular, Mill's principle focuses our attention on particular actions. As we shall see, utilitarians have often been more interested in evaluating codes of moral rules or systems of political institutions.

Why study utilitarianism?

If you are taking an introductory ethics course, then you will probably be asked questions about utilitarianism. If you want to pass the course, this gives you a reason to study utilitarianism. Fortunately, there are other – nobler – reasons to study utilitarianism. Throughout the past two centuries, the utilitarian tradition has been very influential – not just within philosophy, but in the more obviously practical disciplines of politics and economics. As a result of this influence, utilitarian assumptions and arguments abound in modern economic and political life, especially in public policy.