Literary notes about Utilitarian (AI summary)
In literature the adjective "utilitarian" is employed in multiple, often contrasting, ways. It is frequently used to characterize a moral philosophy that prioritizes the greatest good for the greatest number, as seen in discussions of Bentham’s and Mill’s theories, where ethical decisions are weighed by their overall consequences ([1], [2], [3]). At the same time, the term can denote a focus on practical, functional simplicity, describing everything from architectural style to everyday habits ([4], [5], [6]). Authors sometimes use "utilitarian" to highlight a tension between calculated, purpose-driven behavior and more intuitive or aesthetic values, thereby enriching debates about human motivation and ethics ([7], [8], [9]). This multifaceted usage illustrates how the word serves as both a marker of abstract moral reasoning and a descriptor of tangible, real-world functionality ([10], [11]).
- There is no point which utilitarian thinkers (and Bentham pre-eminently) have taken more pains to illustrate than this.
— from Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill - The utilitarian morality does recognise in human beings the power of sacrificing their own greatest good for the good of others.
— from Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill - Virtue, according to the utilitarian conception, is a good of this description.
— from Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill - The luxury of lying late in bed was a pleasure belonging to the life of ease; it had no part in the utilitarian existence of the boarding-house.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - The ashram was plainly furnished; everything was simple, clean, and utilitarian.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - In the most commercial and utilitarian states of society the power of ideas remains.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - However attractive this simple reconciliation of Intuitional and Utilitarian methods may be, it is not, I think, really warranted by the evidence.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick - As against this, objective truth must be something non-utilitarian, haughty, refined, remote, august, exalted.
— from Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking by William James - But no claim of this description is made for the virtuous man by the utilitarian doctrine.
— from Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill - It has no connection with anything in the world that I've ever been interested in, except a slim, utilitarian connection with economics.
— from This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Of old, the State was regarded theoretically as a utilitarian institution; it has now become so in a practical sense.
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV by Nietzsche
