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Utilitarianism : for and Against by John Jamieson Carswell Smart; Bernard Arthur Owen Williams is a philosophy book available to read on EtoBox.

What is Utilitarianism : for and Against about?

Two essays on utilitarianism, written from opposite points of view, by J. J. C. Smart and Bernard Williams. In the first part of the book Professor Smart advocates a modern and sophisticated version of classical utilitarianism; he tries to formulate a consistent and persuasive elaboration of the doctrine that the rightness and wrongness of actions is determined solely by their consequences, and in particular their consequences for the sum total of human happiness. This is a revised version of Professor Smart's famous essay 'an outline of a system of utilitarian ethics', first published in 1961 but long unobtainable. In Part II Bernard Williams offers a sustained and vigorous critique of utilitarian assumptions, arguments and ideals. He finds inadequate the theory of action implied by utilitarianism, and he argues that utilitarianism fails to engage at a serious level with the real problems of moral and political philosophy, and fails to make sense of notions such as integrity, or even human happiness itself. Both authors are agreed on utilitarianism's importance: it cuts across a number of different philosophical disputes and combines a systematic account of mata-ethical problems w

Who reads Utilitarianism : for and Against?

Author

John Jamieson Carswell Smart; Bernard Arthur Owen Williams

Publisher

Cambridge (Eng.) University Press

Published

1973

Language

EN

ISBN

9780521098229

Category

philosophy

Subjects

Fiction, Philosophy, Anthropology

Rating

3.57 / 5 (163 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14