When is your exam? I have a philosophy exam tomorrow, here in Norway, but with many of the same subjects.

Act utilitarianism basically means that you need to weigh the consequences of every action you do, and at any given moment do the thing that will maximise happiness in the world.

Rule utilitarians claim that this is unrealistic because it's nearly impossible to foresee the all the consequences of an action, and we must also sometimes act spontaneously and not have the time or possibility to weigh all consequences. Rule utilitarianism therefor use basic rules that are based on the most likely consequence of an action.

For example: If you see a drowning person, you should save him, because experience tells us that saving a drowning person usually causes more happiness for everyone (because it saves an innocent life). If this person later turns out to be Hitler, you should still be praised for doing the rational thing. Yes, the consequence was bad, so it was not the right thing to do, but it was the rational thing to do, and good people to rational things.

If you did not save the drowning person, and this person turned out to be Hitler, so the consequence was that Hitler died and lots of other lives were saved as a result, then you should still be criticised, because you did the irrational thing, according to a rule utilitarian.

I hope this made sense. English is not my first language, and I've been studying this in Norwegian. Good luck on your exam, or if you've already had it, I hope it went well :biggrin: