Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
According to Harsanyi, "preference utilitarianism is the only form of utilitarianism consistent with the important philosophical principle of preference autonomy. By this I mean the principle that, in deciding what is good and what is bad for a given individual, the ultimate criterion can only be his own wants and his own preferences."
Utilitarianism is often referred to as exchange theory or rational choice theory in the context of sociology. This tradition tends to privilege the agency of individual rational actors, assuming that, within interactions, individuals always seek to maximize their own self-interest.
According to such theories, only the outcome of an action is morally relevant (this contrasts with deontology, according to which moral actions flow from duties or motives). There are similarities with preference utilitarianism , where utility is defined as individual preference rather than positive conscious experience.
"The utilitarian doctrine is, that happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable, as an end; all other things being only desirable as means to that end." ~ John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism (1863) [79] The canonical statement of Mill's utilitarianism can be found in his book, Utilitarianism.
Prior to the coining of the term "consequentialism" by G. E. M. Anscombe in 1958 [11] and the adoption of that term in the literature that followed, utilitarianism was the generic term for consequentialism, referring to all theories that promoted maximizing any form of utility, not just those that promoted maximizing happiness.
1. Delta Air Lines. On-Time Arrivals: 83.46% Delta took the top spot in the report for the impressive fourth year in a row. Sure, there’s always going to be unforeseen delays in a trip, but if ...
Introducing one additional axiom—the nonexistence of Dutch Books, or equivalently that social choice behaves according to the axioms of rational choice—implies that the social choice function must be the utilitarian rule, i.e. the weighting function () must be equal to the utility functions of each individual.
AOL