Ep. 1: Utilitarianism - I've Got a Serial Killer's Liver

Is doing the most good for the most people always the right thing to do? The moral theory known as “consequentialism” holds that our decisions should be guided by their outcomes. Utilitarianism is one type of consequentialism, which says that our moral choices should be focused on maximizing happiness or “utility” across the whole of humanity. One way to sum up utilitarianism is to say that “the ends justify the means.” In this episode we take a hard look at the implications of utilitarianism and review the writings of John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham and Bernard Williams. We also ask some tough questions, like, “would you kill one innocent person to save five others?” and “what’s it like to work in a coffee mine?” Find out what happens in the Hospital of Utilitarianism and get some pro tips from famous philosophers on weird stuff to put in your will.