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How does act utilitarianism evaluate an individual action?
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Utilitarianism
English philosopher and economist Jeremy Bentham's preserved skeleton in his own clothes and surmounted by a wax head, at University College London.
Act utilitarianism evaluates an individual action by assessing its specific consequences to determine if it produces the best possible outcome compared to any alternative action. In this framework, an act is considered morally right if it maximizes the net balance of good—typically defined as happiness or pleasure—over bad, such as unhappiness or pain, for everyone affected by the action.123
Key aspects of this evaluation include:
- Consequentialist Focus: The morality of the act is determined solely by its results rather than the agent's motives or adherence to abstract rules.34
- Calculation of Value: Utilitarians aim to estimate the total units of pleasure and pain likely to be produced for all affected parties, both immediately and in the future. While precise measurement may be difficult, the theory requires making interpersonal comparisons to identify which course of action yields the greatest overall good.2
- Rejection of Independent Rules: Unlike rule utilitarianism, which judges acts based on their conformity to useful general principles, act utilitarianism treats each situation individually. If an action produces better consequences than following a conventional rule, the act utilitarian maintains that one should perform that action, even if it contradicts traditional moral norms.51