Just
for any of you who have forgotten, the principle of utility is the
supreme ethical or moral principle adopted by a group of moral
philosophers called utilitarians.
The principle has been stated in various ways. One of the early
formulations goes like this:
Act so as to produce the greatest happiness
of the greatest number of people.
The principle was first put forward in the
18th century. One of its most famous proponents was the legal
philosopher and reformer Jeremy Bentham. It was also promoted by
Bentham's disciple James Mill and by his son John Stuart Mill.
Probably the most famous statement of the doctrine was a series of
articles by John Stuart Mill which are often published under the
title Utilitarianism. Henry Sidgwick, the Victorian
philosopher, also discusses utilitarianism in his Methods of
Ethics.
More recently a number of philosophers have written extensively about
utilitarianism. It has been criticized at length, but it has also been
defended by philosophers such as Richard
Brandt and R. M. Hare.
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