Work · Analytic Philosophy
Utilitarianism: For and Against
Smart defends act utilitarianism, Williams attacks it – with the cases of George the chemist and of Jim, who is asked to shoot one of twenty captives so that the other nineteen go free.
Introduction
The book, published by Cambridge University Press in 1973, puts two long essays side by side. J. J. C. Smart’s “An Outline of a System of Utilitarian Ethics”, first published in 1961 and revised for the volume, defends act utilitarianism: the right act is the one with the best consequences, and keeping to a rule when breaking it would do more good amounts to “rule worship”. Bernard Williams’s “A Critique of Utilitarianism” argues that this view cannot make sense of personal integrity, because it treats a person’s own projects and commitments as mere inputs into a calculation of overall welfare, and because it makes us as responsible for what others do as for what we do ourselves.
Connections
Builds on
- Utilitarianism1863 · John Stuart Mill
Criticizes
- Utilitarianism1863 · John Stuart Mill
More works by J. J. C. Smart
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