Utilitarianism.
Utilitarianism: The
ethical theory, held by such thinkers as Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill,
asserting that moral rightness is determined by what leads to the greatest good
for the greatest number of people. Traditional utilitarians identify the
greatest good with happiness and define happiness in terms of pleasure and the
absence of pain, while "ideal" utilitarians are willing to include other goods
other than pleasure in their calculation of benefits. The traditional view is
held by many animal rights advocates, who argue that the pleasures and pains of
animals have great moral weight (equal to humans, in some cases). Act
utilitarians hold that what is morally right is determined by the consequences
of particular acts, while rule utilitarians hold that morality is a matter of
conforming to rules or principles and that the right set of principles consists
of those that would, if followed, lead to the greatest good for the greatest
number. Apologetics
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