Intro to Utilitarianism (PowerPoint)

This 28-slide PowerPoint presentation is professionally designed to engage students, create lively discussions, and provide a succinct summary of Utilitarianism. While Jeremy Bentham was the first to present Utilitarianism in a somewhat systematic fashion, the most articulate expression of theory was by 19th century philosopher John Stuart Mill. One of the strengths of this presentation is that several of the most important statements by Mill are directly quoted. The following topics are addressed:

• Normative ethics
• Brief summary of Virtue ethics
• Brief summary of Deontological ethics
• Quotes by Mill
• The Greatest Happiness Principle
• Mill’s definition of happiness
• Mill’s response to his critics that claimed his theory was a philosophy for swine
• The difference between Act and Rule Utilitarianism
• The famous Trolley Carts scenarios (with images)