There are two distinct branches of Utilitarianism: Act Utilitarianism – we should perform actions which adhere to the utilitarian principle, and. Rule Utilitarianism – we should act on rules that adhere to the utilitarian principle.

Utilitarian morality says that what is good for people is defined by what they value, not by what someone else values. Utilitarianism is attractive to those who believe that the well being of people should be determined by the people themselves, rather than what someone else has decided is good for them.

Utilitarianism is a theory of morality, which advocates actions that foster happiness or pleasure and opposes actions that cause unhappiness or harm. Utilitarianism would say that an action is right if it results in the happiness of the greatest number of people in a society or a group.

List of the Disadvantages of Utilitarianism

• Society does not solely focus on happiness when making choices.
• The ends never really justify the means when considering happiness.
• Outcomes are unpredictable when dealing with the future.
• Happiness is something that is subjective.

Higher pleasures depend on distinctively human capacities, which have a more complex cognitive element, requiring abilities such as rational thought, self-awareness or language use. Lower pleasures, in contrast, require mere sentience.

1. Precursors to the Classical Approach. Though the first systematic account of utilitarianism was developed by Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), the core insight motivating the theory occurred much earlier.

To measure happiness, we can ask a person how happy he is, or we can ask his friends or independent investigators. These reports yield similar results.

Happiness is the only thing that has intrinsic value. “pleasure, and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends…all. desirable things are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or. as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain.” Background on Utilitarianism.

Utilitarian happiness is the biggest happiness which (supposetly) every human being looks for. Therefore, the name of the doctrine is utilitarianism, based on the principle of utility. Utility is found in every thing which contributes to the happiness of every rational being.

Philosophers often regard human happiness as an important criterion for deciding what is good and right, and sometimes as the main criterion. According to utilitarians, the moral value of any action is measured according to the amount of happiness that results from it.