Utilitarianism

The theory of utilitarianism is about doing good or bad things, right or wrong. Utilitarianism consists in actions that benefit a large number of people. Ethics speaks of two kinds of utilitarianism, namely, the utilitarianism of actions and the utilitarianism of rules. These two concepts are different from each other. Law Utilitarianism is concerned with the consequences of an act. On the other hand, rule utilitarianism is based on rules. This is the main difference between the two variants of utilitarianism.The utilitarianism of actions is related to the consequences of an action, whereas the utilitarianism of rules is based on rules of behavior.In the utilitarianism of the law, consequences determine whether an action is good or bad, whereas in the utilitarianism of rules, an action is interpreted as good or bad. depending on the result of the agreed rules.The utilitarianism of action leans more towards the person or group of persons who benefit most from the action, as opposed to the utilitarianism of rules.The utilitarianism of actions is result-oriented for its purpose, while the utilitarianism of rules is rule-oriented.BibliographyAdams R.M. Motive Utilitarianism // Journal of Philosophy. 1976. Vol. LXX. No. 14. P. 467-481.Brandt R.B. Morality, Utilitarianism, and Rights. N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, 1992. 393 p.Broom J. Ethics out of Economics. N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 267 p.Fuchs А Mill's Theory of Morally Correct Action // The Blackwell Guide to Mill's Utilitarianism / Ed. H.R. West. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. P. 139-158Nakano-Okuno M. Sidgwick and Contemporary Utilitarianism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 270 p.Part BDuring the course of study, we studied the basics of utilitarianism.Utilitarianism is a normative program that puts forward as a criterion of the moral correctness of actions or the justification of particular rules the amount of summed utility produced by them. Utility can be understood as happiness, pleasure, well-being, satisfaction of desires, satisfaction of preferences or realization of the interests of individuals. During the summation of utility, each portion of it has equal significance, regardless of which individual receives it. Summarizes the normative program of utilitarianism, the principle of the greatest happiness of the greatest number of individuals (the principle of utility, or utility). Certain elements of this program have been present in ethical thought since the ancient period. The first formulations of the benefit principle appeared in the New European philosophy of the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries. The ethical concepts in which he is the core arose in the XVIII century. within British theological thought – the so-called "theological utilitarianism". The first representative of classical utilitarianism, Jeremiah (Jeremy) Bentham, combined hedonistic moral psychology and calculations of collective happiness in his ethical and legal doctrine. John Stuart Mill tried to transform Bentham's utilitarianism towards less mechanistic moral calculations, a richer understanding of the values that make sense of human life, and recognition of the importance of individual rights and freedoms. Henry Sidgwick placed the utilitarian program in the context of a broad study of morality and practical rationality. During the first two thirds of the XX century . Utilitarianism was turning into the dominant model of normative ethics within the Anglo-Saxon philosophical tradition. However, since the 1970s, he has been losing this position under the blows of criticism from the deontological ethics and ethics of virtue.