Utilitarianism

When a court balances a fundamental right against 'the interest of the general public', or when a policy is defended because it does 'the greatest good for the greatest number', an old and surprisingly stubborn ideology is doing the work behind the scenes: utilitarianism.

In two minutes

Utilitarianism is the ideology that judges actions, laws and policies by their consequences alone, holding that the right action is the one producing the greatest happiness, or utility, for the greatest number of people affected.

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The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Political Science – II: Foundations of Political Obligation on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.