Question

Utilitarian principle: meaning and example.

Hint:

Utility = Usefulness for Happiness. It is a consequentialist theory (outcome-based).

Answer 1

The Utilitarian principle, formulated by philosophers like Bentham and Mill, is an ethical theory.
It states that an action is morally right if it tends to promote happiness or pleasure and wrong if it produces pain.
The core maxim is ``The Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Number''.
Example: A government spending money on a public park that benefits thousands is preferred over a project benefiting only a few.
Another Example: In a medical emergency, saving five patients is chosen over saving one if resources are limited (triage).