Definition of utilitarianism

• n. - The doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the end and aim of all social and political institutions.
• n. - 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.
• n. - The doctrine that utility is the sole standard of morality, so that the rectitude of an action is determined by its usefulness.