SPIN RESULT // FILE 00
Utilitarianism
“Only one treatment dose remains. Should it go to the person in greatest need or where it creates the greatest total benefit?”
PANEL A // CORE
The essential idea
Utilitarianism is a family of consequentialist theories evaluating actions or policies by the value they produce, usually impartially and in aggregate. Versions differ over what counts as well-being and whether acts, rules, or institutions should be evaluated.
PANEL B // SEQUENCE
How it works
- 01
Identify everyone affected by a decision.
- 02
Compare the relevant consequences of the alternatives.
- 03
Give equal moral weight to equivalent benefits and harms, without arbitrary privilege.
PANEL C // CASE
Concrete case
A health policy may be compared through years of life, suffering avoided, distribution, and side effects—not intention alone.
PANEL D // LIMIT
It does not mean this
It does not mean maximizing personal pleasure, and not every utilitarian accepts one identical formula.
RHO // FIELD NOTE
Take it with you
It forces attention toward consequences and excluded people, while raising hard problems about measurement, rights, and distribution.
FINAL PANEL // APPLY
Transfer test
Before answering: how confident are you?