Utilitarianism: a psychophysical perspective

Utilitarianism and Personal Identity

Statistical utilitarianism

We show that, in a sufficiently large population satisfying certain statistical regularities, it is often possible to accurately estimate the utilitarian social welfare function, even if we only have very noisy data about individual utility functions and interpersonal utility comparisons. In particular, we show that it is often possible to identify an optimal or close-to-optimal utilitarian soc...

Utilitarianism, Conscience and Animals

Evaluating Time-Continuous Action Alternatives from the Perspective of Negative Utilitarianism A Layered Approach

A layered approach to the evaluation of action alternatives with continuous time for decision making under the moral doctrine of Negative Utilitarianism is presented and briefly discussed from a philosophical perspective. Key words-negative utilitarianism; decision making; Maximin; Expected Utility Theory; Precautionary Principle;

A Critical Reflection on Utilitarianism as the Basis for Psychiatric Ethics Part II: Utilitarianism and Psychiatry

Whilst many factors influence its craft, psychiatry is ultimately considered a profession. Any medical practitioner abides by a social contract as both a healer and professional (ABIM Foundation, ACP-ASIM Foundation, & EFIM, 2002). Physicians have reaffirmed the concept of medicine as a profession, in the face of commercialization of healthcare, globalization and advances in biotechnology. Crue...