[f. prec. + -ISM. Hence F. utilitarianisme (1885).] Utilitarian doctrine, principles, theories, or practices; spec. in Philos., the doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct.
1827. G. S. Faber, Sacr. Cal. Prophecy (1844), I. 202. Intent only upon the present,… men will … devote themselves … to a life … of sordid godless Utilitarianism.
1839. Dickens, Nickleby, xxxvi. But knockers may be muffled for other purposes than those of mere utilitarianism.
1861. Mill, Utilit., ii. (1863), 16. Utilitarianism, therefore, could only attain its end by the general cultivation of nobleness of character.
1878. W. H. Dall, Later Preh. Man, 31. The growth of sentiment (as opposed to savage utilitarianism), which is characteristic of the human mind in all ages.
