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Utilitarianism

DOI
10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1
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DOI: 10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1
Version: v1,  Published online: 1998
Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/utilitarianism/v-1

References and further reading

  • Adams, R.M. (1976) ‘Motive utilitarianism’, Journal of Philosophy 73: 467–81.

    (Utilitarianism with focus on motives.)

  • Bentham, J. (1789) An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, ed. J.H. Burns and H.L.A. Hart, revised F. Rosen, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.

    (Highly influential statement of hedonistic act-utilitarianism.)

  • Brandt, R.B. (1985) A Theory of the Good and the Right, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    (Defends hedonistic rule-utilitarianism.)

  • Brink, D. (1989) Moral Realism and the Foundations of Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    (Defends two-level ideal utilitarianism.)

  • Broome, J. (1991) Weighing Goods, Oxford: Blackwell, ch. 1.

    (Contains discussion of structure of moral theories. Moderately difficult.)

  • Crisp, R. (1992) ‘Utilitarianism and the life of virtue’, Philosophical Quarterly 42: 139–60.

    (Discussion of two-level utilitarianism with focus on lives.)

  • Frey, R. (1985) Utility and Rights, Oxford: Blackwell.

    (Collection devoted to discussion of rights and utilitarianism.)

  • Glover, J. (1990) Utilitarianism and Its Critics, New York: Macmillan.

    (Contains essential readings, with helpful guidance by the editor. Good starting place; helpfully structured bibliography.)

  • Godwin, W. (1793) Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, ed. K. Codell, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971.

    (Radical anarchist utilitarianism.)

  • Goodin, R. (1991) ‘Utility and the good’, in P. Singer (ed.) A Companion to Ethics, Oxford: Blackwell, 241–8.

    (Introductory discussion of welfare.)

  • Griffin, J. (1982) ‘Modern utilitarianism’, Revue Internationale de Philosophie 141: 331–75.

    (Good starting place for study of recent work on utilitarianism.)

  • Griffin, J. (1986) Well-Being: Its Meaning, Measurement, and Moral Importance, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    (Key discussion of different conceptions of utility. Defends ideal account with preferences entering at level of explanation of value.)

  • Hare, R.M. (1981) Moral Thinking: Its Methods, Levels and Point, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    (Sophisticated modern two-level act-utilitarian, influenced by Aristotle, Kant and Mill.)

  • Helvétius, C. (1758) De l’esprit (On the Mind), Paris: Arthème Fayard, 1988.

    (Enlightenment utilitarian political theorist.)

  • Hooker, B. (1990) ‘Rule consequentialism’, Mind 91: 67–77.

    (Contains defence of rule-consequentialism – also applicable to rule-utilitarianism – on grounds of undemandingness and fairness.)

  • Hume, D. (1751) An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, ed. L.A. Selby-Bigge, revised by P.H. Nidditch, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 3rd edn, 1975.

    (See esp. section 5, ‘Why utility pleases’, on the usefulness of the social virtues.)

  • Hutcheson, F. (1755) A System of Moral Philosophy, in Collected Works, vols 5–6, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1969.

    (Important Enlightenment work, anticipating Bentham and Mill.)

  • Kagan, S. (1989) The Limits of Morality, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    (Defends demandingness of utilitarianism. Moderately difficult.)

  • Long, A.A. and Sedley, D. (1987) The Hellenistic Philosophers, vol. 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, sections 56–67.

    (Contains excerpts from and discussions of Stoic ethics.)

  • Lyons, D. (1965) Forms and Limits of Utilitarianism, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    (Classic discussion of act- and rule-utilitarianism.)

  • Mc Closkey, H.J. (1957) , Philosophical Review 66: 466–85.

    (Original version of the ‘sheriff’ case, in which a utilitarian sheriff is required to hang an innocent man, so as to prevent a riot and bring about the greatest overall happiness possible in the circumstances.)

  • Mc Naughton, D. and Rawling, P. (1995) ‘Value and agent-relative reasons’, Utilitas 7: 31–47.

    (Sophisticated attempt to capture consequentialist/nonconsequentialist distinction using deontic logic. Difficult.)

  • Mill, J.S. (1861) Utilitarianism, ed. R. Crisp, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.

    (One of the most important and widely studied works in moral philosophy. Contains argument that pleasures can be seen as higher and lower.)

  • Miller, H.B. and Williams, W.H. (1982) The Limits of Utilitarianism, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

    (Interesting and wide-ranging collection. Contains bibliography of works on utilitarianism from 1930 to 1980.)

  • Moore, G.E. (1903) Principia Ethica, ed. T. Baldwin, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, revised edn, 1993.

    (Includes critique of Mill, and development of ideal account of the good.)

  • Nietzsche, F. (1888) Die Götzen-Dämmerung, trans. A.M. Ludovici, The Twilight of the Idols, London: Allen & Unwin, 1911, 94–6. (Criticizes the life consisting solely of happiness or pleasure.)

  • Nozick, R. (1984) Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Oxford: Blackwell.

    (Contains the ‘experience machine’ objection and defence of rights as constraints on maximization.)

  • Nussbaum, M. and Sen, A. (1993) The Quality of Life, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    (Wide-ranging collection on welfare.)

  • Paley, W. (1785) Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, New York: Garland, 1978.

    (Theological utilitarian, whose great success is said to have spurred Bentham to publish his Introduction to the Principles.)

  • Parfit, D. (1984) Reasons and Persons, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    (Central modern work. Part IV contains discussion of population problems.)

  • Pettit, P. (1991) ‘Consequentialism’, in P. Singer (ed.) A Companion to Ethics, Oxford: Blackwell, 230–40.

    (Introductory discussion of consequentialism. Has brief bibliography.)

  • Plato (c. 386–380) Protagoras, trans. with notes by C.C.W. Taylor, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2nd edn, 1991.

    (Develops early account of hedonism.)

  • Plato (c. 360–347) Philebus, trans. J.C.B. Gosling, Plato: Philebus, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.

    (A discussion of the relative merits of pleasure and wisdom in the good life.)

  • Priestley, J. (1768) Essay on the First Principles of Government; and on the Nature of Political, Civil, and Religious Liberty, London: Dodsley, Cadell, Johnson; repr. in P. Miller (ed.) Political Writings, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

    (Influential theological utilitarian.)

  • Quinton, A. (1973) Utilitarian Ethics, London: Macmillan.

    (Historical introduction. Includes chapters on Bentham and Mill.)

  • Railton, P. (1984) ‘Alienation, consequentialism, and the demands of morality’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 13: 134–71.

    (On the everyday moral thinking recommended by utilitarianism.)

  • Rawls, J. (1971) A Theory of Justice, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    (Significant defence of anti-utilitarian view of justice, based on ‘separateness of persons’. Moderately difficult.)

  • Scarre, G. (1996) Utilitarianism, London: Routledge.

    (Useful introduction, including history. Contains bibliography.)

  • Scheffler, S. (1988) Consequentialism and Its Critics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    (Collection of important recent critiques, with helpful introduction.)

  • Sen, A. (1981) ‘Plural utility’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 81: 193–215.

    (Defends pluralistic conception of utility.)

  • Sen, A. and Williams, B. (1982) Utilitarianism and Beyond, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    (Useful collection. Introduction provides general survey, including discussion of desire theory and rights. Contains bibliography. See essays by R.M. Hare for introduction to his views, and by T.M. Scanlon for contractualist discussion of utilitarianism.)

  • Sidgwick, H. (1874) The Methods of Ethics, London: Macmillan; 7th edn, 1907, books III and IV.

    (Intuitionist defence of utilitarianism embedded within perceptive discussion of common sense morality.)

  • Smart, J.J. and Williams, B. (1973) Utilitarianism For and Against, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    (Smart discusses the ‘experience machine’, Williams integrity.)

  • Sumner, L.W. (1981) Abortion and Moral Theory, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    (Utilitarian discussion of abortion.)

  • Williams, B. (1976) ‘Persons, Character and Morality’, in A.O. Rorty (ed.) The Identities of Persons, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 197–216; repr. in Moral Luck: Philosophical Papers 1973–80, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981, 1–19.

    (Critique of impartialist ethics.)

  • Williams, B. (1985) Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, London: Fontana, ch. 6.

    (Contains sophisticated critique of split-level theories. Moderately difficult.)

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Citing this article:
Chappell, Tim and Roger Crisp. Bibliography. Utilitarianism, 1998, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/utilitarianism/v-1/bibliography/utilitarianism-bib.
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