How to Use utilitarianism in a Sentence

utilitarianism

noun
  • This will push them closer to utilitarianism, and an equal concern for all.
    — Tyler Cowen, Star Tribune, 7 Mar. 2021
  • But such stark utilitarianism sits poorly with how most people view the world, because AVs would still cause a lot of deaths.
    — The Economist, 10 May 2018
  • So the marketers took those form factors and jacked them up in the air, adding some styling tweaks meant to suggest the utilitarianism of military surplus.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 25 Oct. 2017
  • Kondo’s creed may be born of Shinto precepts, but at its core is a very Western utilitarianism.
    — Coco Krumme, WIRED, 13 Sep. 2023
  • Their divinity is some form of very strict utilitarianism.
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2026
  • These women took artistic license to write their own beauty narrative, one that refused to be boxed in by the utilitarianism of blue-collar work.
    — Charles Harbison, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2021
  • But the dark utilitarianism of Palladium is a far cry from the neon brightness that streetwear aficionados have come to expect from this man of style.
    — Ryan Dombal, Esquire, 6 Sep. 2011
  • The constraints of the pandemic have given us few reasons to carry a handbag outside of pure utilitarianism.
    — Willow Lindley, Vogue, 14 Dec. 2020
  • This was the opposite of utilitarianism, or the suggestion that what was good was that which would benefit the greatest number of people.
    — Kim Phillips-Fein, The New Republic, 9 June 2020
  • But one branch — utilitarianism — is strongly inclined in this direction.
    — Sigal Samuel, Vox, 1 May 2024
  • The primary message here is that food is the site not of delight and togetherness but of anxiety and alienation, or utilitarianism at best.
    — Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 9 Aug. 2024
  • In simple terms, utilitarianism holds that the right action is whichever maximizes net happiness.
    — Nicholas G. Evans, The Conversation, 14 Apr. 2023
  • But there are plenty of variations on the trolley problem that suggest there's more than pure utilitarianism involved in the decision-making.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 15 Apr. 2022
  • Handler isn’t the only star embracing utilitarianism this year.
    — Maggie Clancy, WWD, 2 Dec. 2024
  • The classic example – often used to critique utilitarianism – is whether you should be required to kill another person if doing so would save a greater number of lives.
    — Lee McIntyre, The Conversation, 21 May 2020
  • In layman’s terms, a utilitarianism approach would maximize overall health by directing care toward those most likely to benefit the most from it.
    — Austin Frakt, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2020
  • According to modern utilitarianism, this makes society better off and the social contract should reflect this.
    — George G. Szpiro, Big Think, 9 Apr. 2026
  • This sense of elevated utilitarianism also takes shape in several cadet coats, including one done in corduroy and metallic piping.
    — Maria Ward, Vogue, 11 Aug. 2017
  • Leaders in advanced countries are not obligated to practice global utilitarianism or lift up the global poor at the expense of their working and middle classes.
    — William A. Galston, WSJ, 27 Mar. 2018
  • Proponents of an organ market had historically invoked the crisp—some say cold—logic of utilitarianism.
    — WIRED, 5 Jan. 2023
  • Bazerman’s guiding light is the philosophy of utilitarianism, which teaches the goal of creating the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
    — Hbs Working Knowledge, Forbes, 6 May 2021
  • Melding crafts and fine art with an emphasis on simplicity and utilitarianism, the Bauhaus movement helped define the modernist aesthetic.
    — Oliver Sava, Chicago Reader, 5 Apr. 2018
  • Bankman-Fried would never say that about utilitarianism, or about Effective Altruism.
    — Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 16 Dec. 2022
  • Conversations with MacAskill often turn to radical utilitarianism and audacious plans to save the world.
    — Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, 29 June 2018
  • This unapologetic utilitarianism can make some people dismiss the music’s artistic value.
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 28 July 2022
  • Schur even drew on his own experience when crafting Eleanor’s initial reaction to learning about utilitarianism in Season 1.
    — Elizabeth Yuko, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2017
  • The fashion scene loves the boyish sensibility of utilitarianism.
    — Alexis Bennett, Vogue, 26 Jan. 2023
  • But the reality is that those trucks were uncomfortable, bouncy, unreliable horror shows of utilitarianism.
    — New Atlas, 31 Mar. 2026
  • There is just too little daylight now between secular utilitarianism and liberal Catholicism in its political and partisan form.
    — Ross Douthat New York Times, Star Tribune, 24 June 2021
  • The lesson to be learned from the shortcomings of utilitarianism is not that the philosophy should be abandoned, but rather that other values besides maximizing total welfare must also guide behavior.
    — James Broughel, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'utilitarianism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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