A philosophy that people should act in order to increase the frequency and longevity of pleasure throughout the world. Although the idea acting to increase long-term and global pleasure sounds desirable, Utilitarians believe that the pleasure of many outweigh pleasure of few. A Utilitarian may believe that killing one person in order to increase the pleasure of many or killing someone and harvesting their organs would be a just action. Some Utilitarians have seen that this can be dangerous; many Utilitarians, because of this, follow a slightly different ideology that they should act to increase the frequency and longevity of pleasure throughout the world by following the best social standards.
People who believe in Utilitarianism believe that it is all right to kill one person, take their organs and distribute them to many.
by DesPERRYado November 1, 2004
A collectivist moral philosophy which states that the moral worth of an action is directly dependant upon how much pleasure or good that action brings upon others. It is the belief in the most good for the most people. Under this moral philosophy the person exists solely to serve the community. According to Utilitarianism the person has no value, only the people do.
Communism is the philosophy of Utilitarianism put into practice as a socio-economic means of organizing society.
by GaleryonTheMystic December 8, 2007
by Thanthannosnos April 26, 2019
a person believes in the greater good for the greater number of people; in ethics, it's the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happiness of all those affected by it.
if your not genetically qualified to be a nazi but still agree with most of the things they stand for.... you're a utilitarian.
by kdav1488 June 19, 2010
by DrProfessorDefenitiion89 September 28, 2010
An object with great use or puprose. Often said by nerds, but could be said by anyone else, if there is no other word that could be used.
by Billie the dude February 11, 2009
A person that has to come up with an extreme hypothetical to justify an action (that is commonly known as immoral) under utilitarianism. Often used to get away with edgy comments and not focus on the issues that those actions have in our current society.
Person 1: "Well, technically rape is morally neutral. If you could save all of humanity from an alien invasion by raping this one girl that would be a moral good"
Person 2: "Shut the fuck Steve, anything can be justified by incredibly stupid hypotheticals, you are just being a utilitarian edgelord"
Person 2: "Shut the fuck Steve, anything can be justified by incredibly stupid hypotheticals, you are just being a utilitarian edgelord"
by AbbyV June 20, 2021