Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is a teleological ethical system. A teleological ethical system judges the consequences of an act. Even a bad act, if it results in good consequences, can be defined as good under a teleological system. The saying “the end justifies the means” is a teleological statement.

The utilitarian doctrine asserts that we should always act to produce the greatest possible ratio of good to evil for everyone concerned. That is, if one can show that an action significantly contributes to the general good, then it is good.

The difference between ethical formalism and rule utilitarianism is that the actions themselves are judged right or wrong depending on the motives behind them under ethical formalism, whereas utilitarianism looks to the long-term consequences of the prescribed rules to determine their morality.