Kategoria BISAC: Philosophy >> Movements - Utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham coined the term 'utilitarian' in 1781, but the idea of 'utility' as a value, goal or principle in political, moral or economic life has a long and rich history. The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Utilitarianism captures the complex developmental history and the multi-faceted character of utilitarianism in its various contexts and forms more completely than any previous source. Studies of utilitarianism hitherto have been notably compartmentalised, focusing on utilitarian ethics, or the socio-political utilitarianism epitomized in Benthamism, or the genesis of Austrian...

Contemporary politics is faced, on the one hand, with political stagnation and lack of a progressive vision on the side of formal, institutional politics, and, on the other, with various social movements that venture to challenge modern understandings of representation, participation, and democracy. Interestingly, both institutional and anti-institutional sides of this antagonism tend to accuse each other of "nihilism," namely, of mere oppositional destructiveness and failure to offer a constructive, positive alternative to the status quo. Nihilism seems, then, all engulfing.

In...

Contemporary politics is faced, on the one hand, with political stagnation and lack of a progressive vision on the side of formal, institutional politics, and, on the other, with various social movements that venture to challenge modern understandings of representation, participation, and democracy. Interestingly, both institutional and anti-institutional sides of this antagonism tend to accuse each other of "nihilism," namely, of mere oppositional destructiveness and failure to offer a constructive, positive alternative to the status quo. Nihilism seems, then, all engulfing.

In...

The thesis advanced in this book is that feeling and cognition actualize through a process that originates in older brain formations and develops outward through limbic and cortical fields through the self-concept and private space into (as) the world. An iteration of this transition deposits acts, objects, feelings and utterances. Value is a mode of conceptual feeling that depends on the dominant phase in this transition: from desire through interest to object worth. Among the topics covered are subjective time and change, the epochal nature of objects and their temporal extensibility and...

For the first time in the German language, this edition of the writings of Jeremy Bentham compiles the essays in which he presents a sharply critical view of the French Revolution's Declaration of Human and Citizens Rights, discusses questions of political equality and constitutional organization, expresses his opposition to French colonialism, and shows himself as a constructive critic of natural law.

The idea that there is such a thing as a human right to health has become pervasive. It has not only been acknowledged by a variety of international law documents and thus entered the political realm but is also defended in academic circles. Yet, despite its prominence the human right to health remains something of a mystery - especially with respect to its philosophical underpinnings. Addressing this unfortunate and intellectually dangerous insufficiency, this book critically assesses the stipulation that health is a human right which - as international law holds - derives from the...

Humans have long wondered whether we might be able to cure to all diseases and put a stop aging. But what if we were able to revive the dead to achieve an even more universal version of immortality?

In this study, Adam Stanczyk, an architect, considers various aspects of the debate on immortality and all of its possibilities, arguing that humanity can achieve more than we ever thought possible. He explains why serious and rational people should consider whether it's possible to revive the dead, how humanity might develop the ability to revive the long dead, and whether purpose and...