According to utilitarianism, right action is defined by the consequences of that action
So the main principle of utility: The morally right action is such that it results in the most benefit for the most agents
- It means that sometimes you need to give up your pleasure for the others
- Benefit: what is good to whom are concerned and affected by the action
Actions are evaluated by their consequences
- In contrast with Kantian Ethics
In any situation, you need to evaluate the expected consequences of the available actions, and you need to choose the one that has the highest expected value
- We only know probabilities because predicting every consequence of our action is almost impossible
- This leads us to the problem of calculating probabilities and benefits
Attempting to evaluate moral situations with the help of utilitarianism leads to the following questions:
- What are the possible actions?
- What are the possibilities of the consequences of my action?
- Which one of these consequences would lead to the greatest good in the greatest number?