Abstract

The focus of this chapter is in Anglo-Saxon thought. It is about the approach of utilitarianism. The founder Jeremy Bentham, who builds on the ancient concept of the ethics of happiness, sees the principle of his ethics in the ‘greatest happiness of the greatest number of people’. As a lawyer, he also tried to make this principle the basis for a reform of criminal law. John Stuart Mill, who, like his father, was a student of Bentham, also linked utilitarian ethics with political and social reform ideas. He became known for his work On Liberty, which became a standard work of political literature. In his ethics, he seeks—similarly to Cicero—to show that the observance of moral rules is more useful in the long run than the perception of a momentary advantage. The Australian philosopher Peter Singer, who has also made a name for himself as an animal rights activist, radicalizes the utilitarian approach in such a way that, in order to increase the overall amount of happiness, he is also willing to recommend the killing of disabled infants (infanticide) in cases of mental or physical disability.