utilitarianism

English

Etymology

From utilitarian +‎ -ism.

Noun

utilitarianism (countable and uncountable, plural utilitarianisms)

1. (philosophy) A system of ethics based on the premise that something's value may be measured by its usefulness.
2. (philosophy) The theory that action should be directed toward achieving the "greatest happiness for the greatest number of people" (hedonistic universalism), or one of various related theories.
3. Practicality, functionality, as opposed to e.g. aesthetics.
   • 1979 August 25, Vicki Gabriner, Susan Freundlich, “Bridging the Gaps between Deaf and Hearing Lesbians”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 6, page 8:

     After a few more concerts, my uneasiness took form: the response seemed only to be to the Interpreter as Performer. The reviews praised her artistry. But I heard few women speak of her as a bridge in communication for deaf women, about her function, her "utilitarianism."

Hypernyms

• consequentialism
• welfarism

 

Coordinate terms

• deontology

 

Derived terms

• antiutilitarianism
• negative utilitarianism
• nonutilitarianism
• rule utilitarianism

 

Translations

the theory of the "greatest happiness for the greatest number of people"

• Arabic: نَفْعِيَّة f (nafʕiyya)
• Armenian: ուտիլիտարիզմ (hy) (utilitarizm), օգտապաշտություն (hy) (ōgtapaštutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: utilitarizm
• Bengali: উপযোগবাদ (bn) (upojōgbad)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 功用主義／功用主义 (gung¹ jung⁶ zyu² ji⁶), 效益主義／效益主义 (haau⁶ jik¹ zyu² ji⁶)

  Mandarin: 效益主義／效益主义 (xiàoyìzhǔyì), 功利主義／功利主义 (zh) (gōnglìzhǔyì)

• Czech: utilitarismus m, utilitarizmus m
• Danish: utilitarianisme c
• Dutch: utilisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: utilismo
• Finnish: utilitarismi (fi)
• French: utilitarisme (fr) m
• Georgian: უტილიტარიზმი (uṭiliṭarizmi)
• German: Utilitarismus (de) m
• Greek: ωφελιμισμός (el) m (ofelimismós)
• Hebrew: תּוֹעַלְתָּנוּת (he) f (tu'ál'tanút)
• Hungarian: haszonelvűség (hu), utilitarianizmus, utilitarizmus (hu)
• Icelandic: nytjasfena
• Indonesian: utilitarianisme
• Irish: fóntachas m
• Italian: utilitarismo (it)
• Japanese: 功利主義 (こうりしゅぎ, kōrishugi)
• Kannada: ಉಪಯುಕ್ತತಾವಾದ (upayuktatāvāda)
• Kazakh: утилитаризм (utilitarizm)
• Korean: 공리주의(功利主義) (gongnijuui)
• Malayalam: പ്രയോജനവാദം (prayōjanavādaṁ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: utilitarianisme m

• Persian: فایده‌گرایی
• Polish: utylitaryzm m
• Portuguese: utilitarismo (pt) m
• Russian: утилитаризм (ru) (utilitarizm)
• Spanish: utilitarismo (es) m
• Swedish: utilitarism (sv) c
• Tagalog: karahatan
• Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa vị lợi (主義為利), chủ nghĩa công lợi (主義功利)