8 characteristics of UTILITARIANISM in philosophy

In a Teacher we will study the characteristics of utilitarianism in philosophy, a movement that emerged in England at the end of the 17th century at the hands of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873).

This philosophical movement affirms that an action must be considered correct based on the positive consequences it has on a greater number of people. Thus, this theory seeks collective happiness through general welfare as a fundamental element, which is defined as utility principle.

If you want to know more about utilitarianism, keep reading this lesson from a TEACHER.

To understand what utilitarianism is, we first have to analyze the etymology of the word itself, which comes from Latin and is made up of two terms: you use = what is useful and ism= doctrine.

In other words, utilitarianism would be the doctrine of what is useful and where the idea that establishes that utility is the moral principle that is located above the rest of the things stands out. It would be, then, a moral doctrine/ethics.

On the other hand, it should be noted that utilitarianism falls within the Englandof the 18th-19th centuries and is a philosophical current that was born from the hand of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) with his treatise "Introduction to moral and legislative principles” (1780) and which is developed by John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) in his work "utilitarianism” (1863):

• Bentham: Establishes that utility is what produces happiness. Likewise, it also affirms that this utility, happiness, can be measured by objectively establishing the level of happiness that our actions have = Measure the intensity and duration of our positive or negative feeling.
• Mill: It states that an individual must act with the objective of obtaining the greatest amount of happiness for the collectivity (what morally correct) and not for himself.

"Each individual has the right to act according to his own will as long as such actions do not harm or harm others"