Home > AS level Philosophy and Ethics
Question: Outline the important features of Utilitarianism.
Graded A (11/12)
AS level Philosophy and Ethics
Answer: Utilitarianism comes from the Latin word of ‘Utilis’, meaning ‘useful’. First, developed by English Philosopher and social reformer Jeremy Bentham during the 18th century, it is based upon the principle of utility, “the greatest good for the greatest number”. It gave a rational, scientific approach to cope with the changing society of the industrial age; it was the age of enlightenment and several revolutions. Utilitarianism is regarded as a relativistic (no absolute rules), consequentialist and teleological theory where an action is judged upon the end result and purpose (telos). This is different compared to deontological ethics, in that it does not focus on the intrinsic ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ of actions.
Bentham proposed ‘Act Utilitarianism’ in which it would become possible to judge an action to be good or evil according to the consequences of the action. Bent...(short extract)
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- Subject: Philosophy
- Course: AS level Philosophy and Ethics
- Level: A-Level
- Year: Not applicable
- Mark: 70%
- Words: 609
- Date submitted: February 26, 2015
- Date written: October, 2014
- References: No
- Document type: Essay*
- Essay ID: 6384
