Act utilitarianism states that in all cases the morally right action is the one which produces the most pleasure, whereas rule utilitarianism states that the morally right action is the one that is in accordance with a moral rule whose general observance would create the most happiness.
32.
According to deontology, people have a " duty " to act in a way that does those things that are inherently good as acts ( " truth-telling " for example ), or follow an objectively obligatory rule ( as in rule utilitarianism ).
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Whilst this story might be quoted as part of a justification for moving from act to rule utilitarianism McCloskey anticipates this and points out that each rule has to be judged on its utility and it is not at all obvious that a rule with exceptions has less utility.
34.
Other important sources for Berkeley's views on morality are " Alciphron " ( 1732 ), especially dialogues I III, and the " Discourse to Magistrates " ( 1738 ) . " " Passive Obedience " is notable partly for containing one of the earliest statements of rule utilitarianism.
35.
What seems extra surprising to me is that there seems to be a close analogy between this and the philosophical issues of act utilitarianism ( the " transcontinental congress " methods ) and rule utilitarianism ( the land hemisphere method ); there are different ways of trying to decide on the " true " center depending on exactly how the " greater good " is defined . talk ) 06 : 11, 28 January 2011 ( UTC)
36.
As stated before, Consequentialism says " Judge an action by its outcome . " Utilitarianism says " Compare different outcomes by virtue of how much overall happiness is produced or how much overall suffering is reduced . " An argument for Rule Utilitarianism is that we shouldn't judge on a case-by-case basis ( because it's too difficult, impractical, prone to bias, etc . ), but instead we should live by rules that tend to produce the most Utility.
