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Philosophy Glossary

This glossary contains just a few of the more popular terms from moral philosophy.

Ethics: enquiry into the principles of how we should behave, especially towards other people.

Utilitarianism: a popular ethical system which says that the right decisions are those which lead to the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people. Act Utilitarians say you should examine each action individually to see whether it is the best in this way. Rule Utilitarians say that this is far too complicated and impractical, and the best you can do is to say that as a general rule certain types of action tend to lead to the greatest happiness and let these general rules guide you in particular cases. For example, killing people usually isn’t conducive to the general happiness, so a rule utilitarian might be against killing in any circumstances.

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