Related Ideas

All utilitarians speak of maximizing a result such as pleasure or happiness or welfare or intrinsic good. The moral principle that requires us to maximize good is called the principle of utility. Many variations on this principle are possible. 

Utilitarianian theories are commonly divided into two classes: Act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarians maintain that each act must be judged independently according to its tendency to maximize the greatest good. Rule utilitarians maintain that individual acts should be judged according to their conformance with a set of rules and that the set of rules should be judged according to its tendency to maximize the greatest good. 

In addition to this distinction between act and rule utilitarianism, there are many other variations on the principle of utility. A first variation is that we should maximize happiness, welfare, etc. regardless of its distribution. A second is that we should maximize the average happiness, welfare, etc. A third is that we should maximize happiness, welfare, etc. but introduce a floor below which no one is allowed to fall. Other variations have been proposed. Some philosophers have spoken of what they call "extended" utilitarianism. (John Hospers spoke of this form of utilitarianism.) An extended utilitarianism would go beyond the idea of maximizing a result such as happiness and also consider distribution or desert. 

Variations such as the second and third are designed to meet a common objection to the first variation; namely, that the first variation does not pay attention to distribution and therefore may (under some circumstances) allow some people to be made miserable in order to maximize the total 'quantity' of welfare, happiness, etc.

Other writers have suggested that no version of the principle of utility is sufficient and that it must be supplemented by other moral principles of equal rank. These might include, for example, a set of individual rights or a mandate to provide for the common good.

Another related view, suggested by Nicholas Rescher, is that utilitarianism is most applicable to a particular area of life; namely, the distribution of public benefits and burdens by the state. 

In short, classical utilitarianism may be modified in several ways: (1) by adding qualifications to the principle of utility, (2) by adding other moral principles of equal rank to our theory of morality or justice, or (3) by narrowing the field within which the principle is applied.

There are many standard objections to various forms of utilitarianism. Both Robert Nozick and John Rawls criticized it at length.

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