【哲学】Utilitarianism 功利主義

Utilitarianism is an ethical and philosophical theory that states that the best action is the one that maximizes utility, which is usually defined as that which produces the greatest well-being of the greatest number of people, and in some cases, sentient animals. Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, described utility as the sum of all pleasure that results from an action, minus the suffering of anyone involved in the action. Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism, which states that the consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong. Unlike other forms of consequentialism, such as egoism and altruism, utilitarianism considers the interests of all beings equally.

Proponents of utilitarianism have disagreed on a number of points, such as whether actions should be chosen based on their likely results (act utilitarianism) or whether agents should conform to rules that maximize utility (rule utilitarianism). There is also disagreement as to whether total (total utilitarianism), average (average utilitarianism) or minimum[1] utility should be maximized.

Though the seeds of the theory can be found in the hedonists Aristippus and Epicurus, who viewed happiness as the only good, the tradition of utilitarianism properly began with Bentham, and has included John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick, R. M. Hare, David Braybrooke, and Peter Singer. It has been applied to social welfare economics, the crisis of global poverty, the ethics of raising animals for food and the importance of avoiding existential risks to humanity.

功利主義, 又译作效益主義，是一種倫理學之理論類型，认为最正確的行为是將效益達到最大。“效益”就是快樂，傾向得到最大快樂，而傾向避免痛苦就是正確。功利主义的创始人边沁将效用描述为一个行为所产生的所有快感的总和，减去参与此行为的所有人的痛苦。功利主义是一种結果主義，结果主义认为任何行为的结果都是对和错的唯一标准。与其他形式的结果主义（如利己主义）不同的是，功利主义平等地考虑所有受牽連的人的利益，乃至有些更顧及動物之利益。

功利主义的拥护者在一些问题上意见不一，例如施事者是应该根据其可能的结果选择行为 (行为功利主义），还是应该遵守效用最大化的规则（規則功利主義）。对于总效用还是平均效用应该最大化也存在分歧。

虽然该理论的先驱可以追溯到认为幸福是唯一美好的事情的享乐主义者亞里斯提卜和伊比鳩魯，但功利主义的传统真正开始于边沁，相关哲学家有约翰·斯图尔特·密尔、亨利·西季威克、R. M. Hare、大卫·布雷布鲁克和彼得·辛格。功利主义已被应用于社会福利经济学、全球贫困危机和动物饲养伦理等。

--- wiki