The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Utilitarianism Available to Purchase

Although it has deep roots in philosophical history, dating back at least to the time of Epicurus, utilitarianism is very much a product of its time and place, which was broadly speaking, nineteenth-century Britain. British philosophers at that time were startlingly unaffected by their European contemporaries – Bertrand Russell quotes J.S. Mill, after a cursory inspection, saying “Ah, I see well enough what poor Kant would be at”. Britain at the time was the world's richest nation, was increasing its dominant position, and was imbued with a sense of progress. Utilitarianism can be broadly defined as a theory which says...