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According to the Oxford English Dictionary and several dictionaries of  
philosophy, the term "utility" was first used in the context of  
philosophical ethics by David Hume in 1751 (Inquiry concerning the  
Principles of Morals -- chapter 5 "Why Utility Pleases"), who made it the  
basic criterion of ethical value. 
 
The term was in frequent use in English from 1540 onward, although it  
appears from my perusal of the OED that the first uses of the term related  
to philosophy and economics date from the late-1600s to mid-1700s. 
 
Hedonistic theories of morality go back to the Greeks -- Aristippus of  
Cyrene and Epicurus -- but these tended to be egoistical rather than  
universal, and it is not until the 1600s that we begin to see attempts to  
reconcile the two. Precursors of a universalistic conception of utility: 
 
Richard Cumberland (1631-1718) made "the greatest good of the universe of  
rational beings" the chief ethical criterion. At about the same time,  
William Wollaston (1659-1724) spoke of a "moral arithmetic" of pleasure  
and pain which rational being used to make ethical decisions. Both  
Cumberland and Wollaston were English. 
 
Frances Hutcheson, Adam Smith's teacher, introduced the phrase "greatest  
happiness for the greatest number" as the test of a right action. 
 
John Gay also employed Hutcheson's principle, deriving it from the will of  
God. 
 
William Paley (at about the same time as Bentham) created a theological  
utilitarianism which incorporated theological sanctions. 
 
I expect the gendered aspect of the term "utility" and "utilitarianism"  
emerges from the the link that Cumberland expresses most clearly between  
utility and rational beings. The Western philosophical tradition never  
considered women rational beings, and hence they could not be expected to  
engage in the "moral arithmetic" of utility maximization. But I do not  
know of any feminist philosophical work on this. 
 
 
Ross B. Emmett 
Manager, Electronic Information, History of Economics Society  
Augustana University College 
e-mail: [log in to unmask] 
URL: http://www.augustana.ab.ca/~emmer 
 
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