The Cambridge companion to utilitarianism

406 Pages·2014·1.935 MB·English

by  Ben Eggleston, Dale Miller (eds.)

the cambridge companion to
UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism, the approach to ethics based on the
maximization of overall well-being, continues to have
great traction in moral philosophy and political thought.
This Companion offers a systematic exploration of its
history,themes,andapplications.First,ittracestheorigins
and development of utilitarianism via the work of Jeremy
Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick, and others.
The volume then explores issues in the formulation of
utilitarianism, including act versus rule utilitarianism,
actual versus expected consequences, and objective versus
subjective theories of well-being. Next, utilitarianism is
positioned in relation to Kantianism and virtue ethics,
and the possibility of conflict between utilitarianism and
fairness is considered. Finally, the volume explores the
modern relevance of utilitarianism by considering its
practical implications for contemporary controversies
such as military conflict and global warming. The volume
will be an important resource for all those studying moral
philosophy, political philosophy, political theory, and the
historyofideas.
ben eggleston isAssociateProfessorofPhilosophyatthe
UniversityofKansas.Heisco-editor(withDaleE.Millerand
David Weinstein) of John Stuart Mill and the Art of Life
(2011).
dale e. miller isProfessorofPhilosophyatOldDominion
University. He is author of J. S. Mill: Moral, Social and
Political Thought (2010) and co-editor of Morality, Rules,
and Consequences (with Brad Hooker and Elinor Mason,
2000) and John Stuart Mill and the Art of Life (with Ben
EgglestonandDavidWeinstein,2011).

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CRITICALTHEORY Editedbyfred rush
DARWIN 2ndeditionEditedbyjonathan hodge and
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SIMONEDEBEAUVOIR Editedbyclaudia card
DELEUZE Editedbydaniel w. smith and
henry somers-hall
DESCARTES Editedbyjohn cottingham
DEWEY Editedbymolly cochran
DUNS SCOTUS Editedbythomas williams
EARLY GREEKPHILOSOPHY Editedbya. a. long
EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY Editedby
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EPICUREANISM Editedbyjames warren
Continuedatthebackofthebook

The Cambridge Companion to
UTILITARIANISM
Edited by
Ben Eggleston
UniversityofKansas
Dale E. Miller
OldDominionUniversity
UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,
NewYork
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©CambridgeUniversityPress,2014
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Firstpublished2014
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TheCambridgecompaniontoutilitarianism/editedbyBenEggleston,University
ofKansas;DaleE.Miller,OldDominionUniversity.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-107-02013-9(alk.paper)
1. Utilitarianism. I. Eggleston,Ben,1971– II. Miller,DaleE.,1966–
b843.c36 2014
1710.5–dc23
2013043752
isbn 978-1-107-02013-9Hardback
isbn 978-1-107-65671-0Paperback
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contents
Notesoncontributors pageix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
ben eggleston and dale e. miller
1 UtilitarianismbeforeBentham 16
colin heydt
2 Benthamandutilitarianismintheearlynineteenth
century 38
james e. crimmins
3 Millandutilitarianisminthemid-nineteenth
century 61
henry r. west
4 Sidgwickandutilitarianisminthelatenineteenth
century 81
roger crisp
5 Utilitarianisminthetwentiethcentury 103
krister bykvist
6 Actutilitarianism 125
ben eggleston
7 Ruleutilitarianism 146
dale e. miller
8 Globalutilitarianism 166
julia driver
vii
viii contents
9 Objectivism,subjectivism,andprospectivism 177
elinor mason
10 Subjectivetheoriesofwell-being 199
chris heathwood
11 Objectivetheoriesofwell-being 220
ben bradley
12 Kantianethicsandutilitarianism 239
jens timmermann
13 Whatvirtueethicscanlearnfromutilitarianism 258
daniel c. russell
14 Utilitarianismandfairness 280
brad hooker
15 Utilitarianismandtheethicsofwar 303
william h. shaw
16 Utilitarianismandourobligationstofuturepeople 325
tim mulgan
Bibliography 348
Index 373