Online Google Dictionary

utilitarian 中文解釋 wordnet sense Collocation Usage Collins Definition
Adjective
/yo͞oˌtiliˈte(ə)rēən/,
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Designed to be useful or practical rather than attractive,
  1. Designed to be useful or practical rather than attractive

  2. Of, relating to, or adhering to the doctrine of utilitarianism
    • - a utilitarian theorist
Noun
  1. An adherent of utilitarianism

  1. having a useful function; "utilitarian steel tables"
  2. someone who believes that the value of a thing depends on its utility
  3. having utility often to the exclusion of values; "plain utilitarian kitchenware"
  4. (utilitarianism) doctrine that the useful is the good; especially as elaborated by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill; the aim was said to be the greatest happiness for the greatest number
  5. (Utilitarianism (architecture)) Form follows function is a principle associated with modern architecture and industrial design in the 20th century. The principle is that the shape of a building or object should be primarily based upon its intended function or purpose.
  6. (Utilitarianism (book)) John Stuart Mill's book Utilitarianism is a philosophical defense of utilitarianism in ethics. The essay first appeared as a series of three articles published in Fraser's Magazine in 1861; the articles were collected and reprinted as a single book in 1863. ...
  7. Someone who practices or advocates utilitarianism; of or relating to utility; practical and functional, not just for show
  8. Specifically, utilitarianism refers to the theory of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill  that the overall utility or benefit produced by an action ought to be the standard by which we judge the worth or goodness of moral and legal action. ...
  9. (utilitarianism) Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) proposed that decisions should not be based on right and wrong but on the usefulness (utilitarianism) of the outcome.
  10. (utilitarianism) The moral theory that says an action is moral if and only if it is the best of the alternatives available to the agent.
  11. (Utilitarianism) The ethical and social doctrine originated by Jeremy Bantham that the sole aim and criterion for judging all human conduct and all laws is the amount of happiness produced for the greatest number of people.
  12. (2. Utilitarianism) The rightness of an act is determined by how much pleasure and how little pain it generates for everyone affected by it.
  13. ("Utilitarianism") The Puritan Cotton Mather: "What is not useful is vicious," that is, whatever cannot be eaten, worn, sold, or otherwise used by human beings is evil. The term is in quotation marks to distinguish this use of it from the Utilitarian school of philosophy.
  14. (UTILITARIANISM) The doctrine that acts are right solely in so far as their consequences maximise the general happiness (in some versions: maximise the general pleasure; in some versions: maximise the general welfare). ...
  15. (Utilitarianism) A moral theory or framework, especially connected with Mill, according to which actions are right or wrong because of the total happiness they bring about.  Stealing is wrong because it makes more people more unhappy than a rule against stealing does.
  16. (Utilitarianism) A school of thought, neutral as to ends, that holds that social cooperation, ethical precepts and governments are, or should be, merely useful means for helping the immense majority attain their chosen ends. ...
  17. (Utilitarianism) In JURISPRUDENCE, a philosophy whose adherents believe that law must be made to conform to its most socially useful purpose. ...
  18. (Utilitarianism) an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone.
  19. (Utilitarianism) is the practice of evaluating a decision against the criterion of its consequences for the majority of people.
  20. (Utilitarianism) modern moral theorists who adhere to a form of Consequentialism.
  21. (utilitarianism) A theory of morality holding that all actions should be judged for rightness or wrongness in terms of their consequences; thus, the amount of pleasure people derive from those consequences becomes the measure of moral goodness. ...
  22. (utilitarianism) This philosophy judges everything in terms of its utility or usefulness. When examining an institution, such as the law, Parliament or the Church, utilitarians ask the question: Does it work? If the answer is no, then it has to be changed to make it more effective, or abolished. ...
  23. Utilitarianism is one of a class of approaches to ethical decision making called consequentialism. Utilitarianism says that an action is right if, in a given situation, it leads to greater satisfaction of desires, taking into account all those affected, than does any other available alternative. ...
  24. the same amount of money will produce greater happiness in the hands of a less well-off person than if given to a well-off person; thus, redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor will increase the total happiness in society.
  25. A utilitarian artifact consists of items such as food, tools to get, store, and make food, weapons, clothing, and other items used to help people take care of their most basic needs.