1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910451344303321

Autore

Scarre Geoffrey

Titolo

Utilitarianism / / Geoffrey Scarre

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; New York : , : Routlege, , 1996

ISBN

1-85278-097-5

1-134-82792-X

0-203-21376-9

0-203-29228-6

1-280-18722-0

1-134-82793-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (234 p.)

Collana

Problems of Philosophy

Disciplina

144.6

171.5

171/.5

Soggetti

Ethics

Utilitarianism

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-221) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Book Cover; Title; Contents; Preface; Introduction: The Character of the Theory; Four Ancient Moralists; Jesus; Aristotle; Epicurus; Utilitarianism and Enlightenment; Chastellux and Helvetius; Hutcheson; Hume; Priestley and Paley; Godwin; Bentham; John Stuart Mill; James Mill; The importance of character; Higher and lower pleasures; The 'proof of utility'; Utility and justice; Some Later Developments; Ideal Utilitarianism: Moore and Rashdall; Rule-utilitarianism; Happiness and Other Ends; Dominant-and inclusive-end conceptions of happiness; Problems about multiple ends

Two contrasting responsesMaximisation, Fairness and Respect for Persons; Panem et circenses; 'Whoever debases others is debasing himself'; But should the consequences count?; Limitations of the self-respect argument; Archangels, proles and the natural man; Utilitarianism and Personality; The hard line: utilitarians should be



saints; A softer line: utilitarians may be human; Maximisation and alienation; Non-alienating direct utilitarianism; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Sommario/riassunto

Surveying the historical development and the present condition of utilitarian ethics, Geoffrey Scarre examines the major philosophers from Lao Tzu in the fifth century BC to Richard Hare in the twentieth. Utilitarianism traces the 'doctrine of utility' from the moralists of the ancient world, through the Enlightenment and Victorian utilitarianism up to the lively debate of the present day. Utilitarianism today faces challenges on several fronts: it cannot warrant the drawing of adequate protective boundaries around the essential interests of individuals, and it does not allow them the