utilitarinen

Utilitarinen is a Finnish adjective meaning utilitarian and, in philosophy, refers to utilitarianism, a normative ethical theory that evaluates actions by their consequences, particularly their tendency to maximize happiness or welfare. The central idea is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. The principle of utility, sometimes called the greatest-happiness principle, judges actions by their overall balance of good and bad effects.

Historical development: Utilitarianism was developed by Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, who argued that the right action is the one that produces the greatest net utility for those affected. John Stuart Mill later refined the theory, emphasizing qualitative differences between pleasures and arguing that higher pleasures may be preferred even if they involve greater costs. The theory distinguishes act utilitarianism, which assesses individual actions, from rule utilitarianism, which evaluates rules whose adoption would maximize utility.

Variants and debates: Modern discussions include preference utilitarianism, which evaluates consequences by the satisfaction of preferences rather than felt pleasures. Utilitarianism has influenced economics, public policy, and political philosophy, but it has faced criticisms, such as the difficulty of measuring welfare, questions about justice and rights, and concerns that maximizing aggregate utility can justify harming minorities.

Finnish usage: In Finnish discourse, utilitarinen describes both a practical, functional orientation and the philosophical doctrine. The corresponding noun is utilitarismi, and the concept appears across ethics, political theory, and applied contexts.