gelÆs absolutist position is in contrast with the utilitarian position. He states that utilitarianism gives primacy to concerns with what will happen while absolutism gives primacy to a concern with what one is doing. The utilitarianism position holds that one should attempt to maximize good and minimize evil, and if a situation exists where a greater evil (prolonged war) can be prevented by producing a lesser evil (killing of noncombatants to shorten a war), then the lesser evil should be chosen.
The proponents of utilitarianism might accept a policy of attacking a civilian population to bring about the surrender of an enemy (such as the rationale for the use of napalm in Vietnam or drop
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