Rule utilitarianism

Rule utilitarianism judges actions by whether they follow rules whose general acceptance would produce the greatest overall utility. It evaluates rules by their consequences and actions by their conformity to those rules.

Utility: A measure of the benefits, welfare, or preference satisfaction produced by an outcome. It supplies the standard for comparing the consequences of generally accepted rules.
Rule worship: The objection that rule utilitarianism can require following a rule even when breaking it would improve the outcome. It challenges whether the theory can avoid treating rules as absolute.
Jeremy Bentham: An English philosopher and legal reformer who developed an influential form of classical utilitarianism. His act-focused calculus provides a major background against which rule utilitarianism was formulated.
Promise: A commitment that gives another person grounds to expect a particular action or performance. A general rule of promise-keeping can sustain trust even when breaking one promise seems beneficial.
Utilitarianism: A family of ethical theories that evaluates conduct by its contribution to overall utility. Rule utilitarianism is a version of this broader consequentialist tradition.
Rule consequentialism: A family of theories that assesses moral rules by the consequences of their acceptance or use. It generalizes rule utilitarianism’s method beyond utility as the sole value.
Rule fetishism: The objection that rule-based consequentialism gives rules undue authority apart from their consequences. It asks why a rule should govern an act when an exception would plainly help.
John Stuart Mill: A nineteenth-century philosopher who defended utilitarianism and emphasized the role of secondary moral principles. His account of rules and experience is often read as a precursor to rule-based utilitarianism.
Truth-telling: The practice of communicating what one believes to be true rather than deliberately deceiving others. Rules against lying can protect trust while raising questions about justified exceptions.
Consequentialism: The ethical view that the rightness of actions depends on the value of their consequences. The theory inherits consequentialism’s outcome-based standard but applies it to rules.

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