utilitarianism. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/utilitarianism (accessed: May 04, 2009).

Utilitarianism

n.  

1. The belief that the value of a thing or an action is determined by its utility.
   
   
2. The ethical theory proposed by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill that all action should be directed toward achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
   
   
3. The quality of being utilitarian: housing of bleak utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism

n.

1. The doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the end and aim of all social and political institutions. --Bentham.

2. The doctrine that virtue is founded in utility, or that virtue is defined and enforced by its tendency to promote the highest happiness of the universe. --J. S. Mill.

3. The doctrine that utility is the sole standard of morality, so that the rectitude of an action is determined by its usefulness.