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Dialectics
Utilitarianism is a philosophy which argues that all actions can and should be judged according to their utility. It also argues that human society is based on mutual—and therefore acceptable—exploitation. As Marx and Engels point out in The German Ideology, the development of this philosophy is closely connected to modern capitalism, with utilitarianism growing out of the materialist analysis of early political economy but eventually becoming an ideological justification for the social order.
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Utilitarianism Term Timeline in The German Ideology
The timeline below shows where the term Utilitarianism appears in The German Ideology. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Vol. 1, Part 3: Saint Max, Section 3
...that Stirner is indebted not only to German philosophy but also to Enlightenment rationalism and utilitarianism. These theories, however, emerged organically from 18th-century society, initially expressing the French and English bourgeoisie’s...
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