John Stuart Mill
Utilitarianism is a family of consequentialist ethical theories that promotes actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. The basic idea behind utilitarianism is to in some sense maximize utility, which is often defined in terms of well-being or related concepts. It has been applied to social welfare economics, the crisis of global poverty, the ethics of raising animals for food, and the importance of avoiding existential risks to humanity.Utilitarianism considers the interests of all humans equally. Proponents of utilitarianism have disagreed on a number of points, such as whether actions should be chosen based on their likely results, or whether agents should conform to rules that maximize utility. While the seeds of the theory can be found in Aristippus and Epicurus, who viewed happiness as the only good, the tradition of utilitarianism properly began with Bentham, and has included John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick, and Peter Singer.This case laminate collector’s edition includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket.
