Utilitarianism
Modern Ethics · Europe · from 1780
Utilitarianism says the right act is the one that does the most good for everyone it affects. Each person's wellbeing counts the same.
What it is
Utilitarianism is the view that an action is right when it does the most good for everyone it affects, counting each person equally. It judges acts by their results. It was developed by British thinkers as a way of testing laws and customs by whether they help or harm.
Its classical figures are Jeremy Bentham (1748 to 1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806 to 1873). There were forerunners earlier, in ancient China and medieval India, but the systematic version dates from the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The main ideas
- The principle of utility. An act is judged by whether it makes life better, by increasing good and reducing bad, for those it touches. Happiness or welfare sits at the centre.
- Impartiality. Everyone's interests count the same. Nobody's happiness counts for more because of who they are.
- Hedonism in the classical form. Bentham took pleasure to be the good. Mill held that the kind of pleasure matters as well as the amount, and separated higher pleasures of the mind from lower ones. Later writers count other goods too, such as knowledge, or what people actually want.
- Reform. The classical thinkers used the test 'what good does it do?' to challenge useless or harmful laws.
What it looks like in practice
Picture a city deciding where to put a new hospital. A utilitarian does not ask which neighbourhood has the most influence or which option feels most generous. They ask who will be helped, how much, and how many, and who will be harmed. Each person's health counts the same, whoever they are.
The same method applies to personal choices. Which of the options open to me would leave the world, taken as a whole, better off?
People and moments
- Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are the classical thinkers.
- Henry Sidgwick (1838 to 1900) clarified the theory and raised questions such as total welfare against average welfare.
Questions and criticism
- Justice and rights. Can a theory that counts only results rule out harming one person to benefit many? Defenders say rules that protect people also do the most good overall.
- Too demanding? Maximising everyone's good seems to ask too much of individuals. It may also clash with special duties to family and friends.
- Can we calculate? There are doubts about predicting results and measuring welfare.
Close neighbours
Utilitarianism is opposed to duty-based ethics, such as Kant's, on what makes an act right: results against rules. It differs from virtue ethics, which looks at the character of the person instead of the result. Because it is a theory of right action, it says little about God, the self or what exists.
Written by epchē in our own words, and checked against independent sources on 7 October 2026. The sources are listed below.
Where to start reading
Books for this philosophy, from the easiest way in to the harder ones. Each is chosen for a newcomer, whatever the shop.
- Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? Michael J. Sandel
- Practical Ethics Peter Singer
- Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill
- Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek and Peter Singer
Covers belong to their publishers and are shown so you can recognise the book.
What it holds
These are the questions this philosophy cares about most and the side it leans toward. They are our reading of it, and the same positions the walk uses.
- Results · clearly Is an act right because of what it leads to?
- Everyone counts equally · clearly Does ethics start with yourself and the people close to you, or with equal care for everyone?
- Some things are wrong for everyone · clearly Are some moral rules true for everyone, everywhere?
- Which acts are right · clearly Is ethics mostly about which acts are right, or about what kind of person you become?
- Question and change · clearly Should we trust old customs and institutions, or question and change them?
- Experience is the best guide · clearly Where does the most reliable knowledge come from: careful thinking, or what we see, hear and test?
Ideas it speaks to
Short articles on the questions this philosophy answers most firmly.
- Results or rules in ethics · leans toward: Results
- Close people first, or everyone equally · leans toward: Everyone counts equally
- Acts or character in ethics · leans toward: Which acts are right
- Moral relativism and universal morality · leans toward: Some things are wrong for everyone
- Tradition or change · leans toward: Question and change
- Reason or experience · leans toward: Experience is the best guide
Compared with
- Utilitarianism versus Aristotelian virtue ethics
- Utilitarianism versus Kantian deontology
- Utilitarianism versus Pragmatism
Thinkers
Related philosophies
Runs parallel to
- Kantian deontology · The two are the main modern rivals over whether results or duties make acts right.
More from the Modern Ethics tradition
Sources we used
- Utilitarianism · Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, read on 7 October 2026
- History of Utilitarianism · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, read on 7 October 2026
Where do you stand?
Every philosophy takes sides. Here is one question Utilitarianism answers firmly:
Is an act right because of what it leads to?
- Utilitarianism leans toward: Results
- The other side: Duties and rules
The walk asks about this and the questions around it, two ideas at a time, and shows which philosophies your own answers sit closest to. No account, and your answers stay on your device.