What is Utilitarianism?
On a simple level, utilitarianism is the belief that the morally right thing to do in any situation is to maximise the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
A good example of this idea in practice is the organ donor problem. There are 4 patients who are in a hospital waiting room waiting for a life-saving transplant (needing a heart, liver, kidney, and lung, respectively). There are no organs available, and all 4 are set to die. A healthy man comes in for a check-up. The Doctor (a true utilitarian), knocks the healthy man out, takes his organs, and transplants them into the 4 waiting: saving their lives. In a utilitarian calculus, this the morally right thing to do because it saves 4 lives for the cost of 1; it maximises happiness for the greatest number of people.
Related Philosophy and Ethics A Level answers
All answers ▸"THE UTILITARIAN DOCTRINE IS THAT HAPPINESS IS A) A CRITERION, AND B) THE SOLE CRITERION, OF MORALITY" (MILL). WHAT DOES MILL MEAN BY THIS, AND IS HIS 'PROOF' OF ITS TWO PARTS SATISFACTORY?
What is the Socratic Method?
Does a fawn suffering in a forest fire show that there is gratuitous evil in the world
Explain the difference between quantitative and qualitative hedonism