Utilitarian Philosophy and Politics

Utilitarian Philosophy and Politics
Author: James E. Crimmins
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2011-08-04
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0826476015

Explores Bentham's political philosophy in its historical and intellectual context and in the light of his own later re-assessment of his philosophical project.

Utilitarianism - Ed. Heydt

Utilitarianism - Ed. Heydt
Author: John Stuart Mill
Publisher: Broadview Press
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2010-08-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1460402103

John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism is a philosophical defense of utilitarianism, a moral theory stating that right actions are those that tend to promote overall happiness. The essay first appeared as a series of articles published in Fraser’s Magazine in 1861; the articles were collected and reprinted as a single book in 1863. Mill discusses utilitarianism in some of his other works, including On Liberty and The Subjection of Women, but Utilitarianism contains his only sustained defence of the theory. In this Broadview Edition, Colin Heydt provides a substantial introduction that will enable readers to understand better the polemical context for Utilitarianism. Heydt shows, for example, how Mill’s moral philosophy grew out of political engagement, rather than exclusively out of a speculative interest in determining the nature of morality. Appendices include precedents to Mill’s work, reactions to Utilitarianism, and related writings by Mill.

The Classical Utilitarians

The Classical Utilitarians
Author: Jeremy Bentham
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2003-03-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1603840753

This volume includes the complete texts of two of John Stuart Mill's most important works, Utilitarianism and On Liberty, and selections from his other writings, including the complete text of his Remarks on Bentham's Philosophy. The selection from Mill's A System of Logic is of special relevance to the debate between those who read Mill as an Act-Utilitarian and those who interpret him as a Rule-Utilitarian. Also included are selections from the writings of Jeremy Bentham, founder of modern Utilitarianism and mentor (together with James Mill) of John Stuart Mill. Bentham's Principles of Morals and Legislation had important effects on political and legal reform in his own time and continues to provide insights for political theorists and philosophers of law. Seven chapters of Bentham's Principles are here in their entirety, together with a number of shorter selections, including one in which Bentham repudiates the slogan often used to characterize his philosophy: The Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Number. John Troyer's Introduction presents the central themes and arguments of Bentham and Mill and assesses their relevance to current discussions of Utilitarianism. The volume also provides indexes, a glossary, and notes.

Utilitarianism and the Ethics of War

Utilitarianism and the Ethics of War
Author: William H. Shaw
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2016-02-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1135969132

This book offers a detailed utilitarian analysis of the ethical issues involved in war. Utilitarianism and the Ethics of War addresses the two basic ethical questions posed by war: when, if ever, are we morally justified in waging war, and if recourse to arms is warranted, how are we permitted to fight the wars we wage? In addition, it deals with the challenge that realism and relativism raise for the ethical discussion of war, and with the duties of military personnel and the moral challenges they can face. In tackling these matters, the book covers a wide range of topics—from pacifism to armed humanitarian intervention, from the right of national defense to pre-emptive or preventive war, from civilian immunity to the tenets of just war theory and the moral underpinnings of the rules of war. But, what is distinctive about this book is that it provides a consistent and thorough-going utilitarian or consequentialist treatment of the fundamental normative issues that war occasions. Although it goes against the tide of recent work in the field, a utilitarian approach to the ethics of war illuminates old questions in new ways by showing how a concern for well-being and the consequences of our actions and policies shape the moral constraints to which states and other actors must adhere. This book will be of much interest to students of the ethics of war, just war theory, moral philosophy, war and conflict studies and IR.

Utilitarianism as a Public Philosophy

Utilitarianism as a Public Philosophy
Author: Robert E. Goodin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 1995-05-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0521462630

Goodin defends utilitarianism and shows how it can serve as an excellent guide to public policy makers.

Justice, Political Liberalism, and Utilitarianism

Justice, Political Liberalism, and Utilitarianism
Author: Marc Fleurbaey
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010-12-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780521184298

The utlitiarian economist and Nobel Laureate John Harsanyi and the liberal egalitarian philosopher John Rawls were two of the most eminent scholars writing on problems of social justice in the last century. The contributions to this volume, addressed to an interdisciplinary audience, pay tribute to them by investigating themes that figure prominently in their work. In some cases, the contributors explore issues considered by Harsanyi and Rawls in more depth and from novel perspectives. In others, the contributors use the work of Harsanyi and Rawls as points of departure for pursuing the construction of new theories for the evaluation of social justice.

The Virtues of Mendacity

The Virtues of Mendacity
Author: Martin Jay
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2010-05-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0813929768

When Michael Dukakis accused George H. W. Bush of being the "Joe Isuzu of American Politics" during the 1988 presidential campaign, he asserted in a particularly American tenor the near-ancient idea that lying and politics (and perhaps advertising, too) are inseparable, or at least intertwined. Our response to this phenomenon, writes the renowned intellectual historian Martin Jay, tends to vacillate—often impotently—between moral outrage and amoral realism. In The Virtues of Mendacity, Jay resolves to avoid this conventional framing of the debate over lying and politics by examining what has been said in support of, and opposition to, political lying from Plato and St. Augustine to Hannah Arendt and Leo Strauss. Jay proceeds to show that each philosopher’s argument corresponds to a particular conception of the political realm, which decisively shapes his or her attitude toward political mendacity. He then applies this insight to a variety of contexts and questions about lying and politics. Surprisingly, he concludes by asking if lying in politics is really all that bad. The political hypocrisy that Americans in particular periodically decry may be, in Jay’s view, the best alternative to the violence justified by those who claim to know the truth.

Utilitarianism and Empire

Utilitarianism and Empire
Author: Bart Schultz
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780739110874

The classical utilitarian legacy of Jeremy Bentham, J. S. Mill, James Mill, and Henry Sidgwick has often been charged with both theoretical and practical complicity in the growth of British imperialism and the emerging racialist discourse of the nineteenth century. But there has been little scholarly work devoted to bringing together the conflicting interpretive perspectives on this legacy and its complex evolution with respect to orientalism and imperialism. This volume, with contributions by leading scholars in the field, represents the first attempt to survey the full range of current scholarly controversy on how the classical utilitarians conceived of 'race' and the part it played in their ethical and political programs, particularly with respect to such issues as slavery and the governance of India. The book both advances our understanding of the history of utilitarianism and imperialism and promotes the scholarly debate, clarifying the major points at issue between those sympathetic to the utilitarian legacy and those critical of it.

The Utilitarian Response

The Utilitarian Response
Author: Lincoln Allison
Publisher: SAGE Publications Limited
Total Pages: 232
Release: 1990-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN:

This book explores the capacity of utilitarianism to respond to the challenge of theories such as those of Rawls, Nozick and Dworkin, which focus primarily on the individual. Its central questions concern the intellectual coherence and moral acceptability of utilitarian answers to important problems, including health care, punishment and electoral arrangements. Its key themes are the relationship between private ethics and public policy, between utility and freedom, utility and democracy, and the role and limitations of states, both internally and internationally.

Empowerment and Interconnectivity

Empowerment and Interconnectivity
Author: Catherine Villanueva Gardner
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2013
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0271058145

"Examines the work of three nineteenth-century utilitarian feminist philosophers: Catharine Beecher, Frances Wright, and Anna Doyle Wheeler. Focuses on methodological questions in order to recover their philosophy and categorize it as feminist"--Provided by publisher.