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Utilitarianism is a philosophy, utility is the principle.
'''Utilitarianism''' is a political, and later philosophical, principle which calls for actions to be judged on their usefulness (or magnitude of reward) to society or select individuals.
'''Utilitarianism''' is a political, and later philosophical, [[moral]] [[philosophy]] which calls for actions to be judged on their usefulness (or magnitude of reward) to society or select individuals.
Jeremy Bentham, one of utilitarianism's early proponents, called the process of determining the most useful possible action the hedonistic calculus. One would, according to Bentham, measure the pleasure of certain actions against the pleasure of other actions. The problems of such a calculus include the feasibility of interpersonal utility comparisons, the weighting of utility through time, and the "artificial" utility gained not from actual actions but from, for example, avoiding risk. The theoretical person which nonetheless succeeds in undertaking such a computation is said to be a [[rational actor]].
Jeremy Bentham, one of utilitarianism's early proponents, called the process of determining the most useful possible action the hedonistic calculus. One would, according to Bentham, measure the pleasure of certain actions against the pleasure of other actions. The problems of such a calculus include the feasibility of interpersonal utility comparisons, the weighting of utility through time, and the "artificial" utility gained not from actual actions but from, for example, avoiding risk. The theoretical person which nonetheless succeeds in undertaking such a computation is said to be a [[rational actor]].
==Critiques of utilitarianism==
==Critiques of utilitarianism==
Utility has been accused of supporting the idea that the ends justifies means, or that only material means count in the "hedonistic calculus."
Utility has been accused of supporting the idea that the ends justifies means, or that only material means count in the "hedonistic calculus." In fact, this is exactly what Bentham is arguing for.
In addition, Utilitarianism has been accused of being an unworkable system, since one cannot necessarily know the consequences of all actions.
In addition, Utilitarianism has been accused of being an unworkable system, since one cannot necessarily know the consequences of all actions.