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utilitarianism

Definition of utilitarianism

noun

[mass noun]

the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority.
the doctrine that an action is right in so far as it promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct.

The most famous exponents of utilitarianism were Jeremy Bentham and J. S. Mill. It has been criticized for focusing on the consequences rather than the motive or intrinsic nature of an action, for the difficulty of adequately comparing the happiness of different individuals, and for failing to account for the value placed on concepts such as justice and equality

utilitarianism in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of utilitarianism in the US English dictionary

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