Act utilitarianism

Act utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics that states that a person's act is morally right if and only if it produces the best possible results in that specific situation. Classical utilitarians, including Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Henry Sidgwick, define happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain.

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Utilitarianism
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Predecessors Mozi Śāntideva David Hume Claude Adrien Helvétius Cesare Beccaria William Godwin Francis Hutcheson William Paley
Key proponents Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill Henry Sidgwick R. M. Hare Peter Singer
Types of utilitarianism Negative Rule Act Two-level Total Average Preference Classical
Key concepts Pain Suffering Pleasure Utility Happiness Eudaimonia Consequentialism Equal consideration Felicific calculus Utilitarian social choice rule
Problems Demandingness objection Mere addition paradox Paradox of hedonism Replaceability argument Utility monster
Related topics Rational choice theory Game theory Neoclassical economics Population ethics Effective altruism
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