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Jeremy Bentham: Which Promotes The Greatest Good For The Greatest Number of People". Unlike Egoism in Which

Jeremy Bentham was an early utilitarian who believed that the principles of right and wrong are determined by pain and pleasure. He formulated the principle of utility, which holds that the morally right action is the one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Bentham developed a "felicific calculus" to quantify pleasure and determine the most moral course of action based on factors like intensity, duration, and extent. John Stuart Mill built on Bentham's ideas but argued that some pleasures are qualitatively higher than others. He distinguished between lower bodily pleasures and higher mental pleasures. Mill believed that only those who have experienced both kinds of pleasures can judge which is better. He promoted education

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400 views3 pages

Jeremy Bentham: Which Promotes The Greatest Good For The Greatest Number of People". Unlike Egoism in Which

Jeremy Bentham was an early utilitarian who believed that the principles of right and wrong are determined by pain and pleasure. He formulated the principle of utility, which holds that the morally right action is the one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Bentham developed a "felicific calculus" to quantify pleasure and determine the most moral course of action based on factors like intensity, duration, and extent. John Stuart Mill built on Bentham's ideas but argued that some pleasures are qualitatively higher than others. He distinguished between lower bodily pleasures and higher mental pleasures. Mill believed that only those who have experienced both kinds of pleasures can judge which is better. He promoted education

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Anna Michelle Magbanua
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Jeremy Bentham

One of the early utilitarians was Jeremy Bentham. He said:

“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign


masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to
do, as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one hand the standard of
right and wrong, on the other the chain of causes and effects, are fastened to
their throne. They govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think.”

On the basis of this observation about human nature, Bentham formulated a principle
of conduct called the greatest happiness principle. according to which the “right act is that
which promotes the greatest good for the greatest number of people”. Unlike egoism in which
morality is agent oriented, utilitarianism is community oriented. In egoism the ground for
morality is the individual doing the action; in utilitarianism it is the community affected. We
consider others in making our choices because they are also ultimately affected by the
consequences. The problem of an overcrowded boat can easily be solved using utilitarian
principle by drawing lots to determine who will jump to the sea because it benefits the
majority. This is not so with ethical egoism because it will not serve the self-interest of the
person chosen to jump to the sea. In utilitarianism the chosen course of action can easily be
justified because of the consideration of the interest of the community or the majority.

Bentham’s utilitarianism is hedonistic in the sense that the goal or the consequence
which is the consideration of the action is equated with pleasure or happiness. Pleasure or
happiness is good. Bentham invented the calculus by which we test our actions for the value
or quantity of pleasure it gives us. The following are the criteria of his utilitarian principle
called felicific calculus.

1. Intensity: How strong is the pleasure?


2. Duration: How long will the pleasure last?
3. Certainty: How likely or unlikely is it that the pleasure will occur?
4. Propinquity: How soon will the pleasure occur?
5. Fecundity: The probability that the action will be followed by sensations of the same
kind.
6. Purity: The probability that it will not be followed by sensations of the opposite kind.
7. Extent: How many people will be affected?

When deciding what action to take in a particular situation out from several
alternatives we simply have to go over these criteria one by one and assign values to each
alternative action. The alternative that has the biggest value is then the right action to take.
Suppose you needed money because your brother is in a critical condition in a hospital
and your only way to get immediate money is to sell shabu. Now you are contemplating
whether to sell shabu or not. What you need to do is assign numerical values to each criterion
of the felicific calculus for each alternative. The alternative that has the bigger value is the
right action to take. Obviously in this case the choice not to sell drugs has the greater value.
John Stuart Mill

Mill wrote: “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to
be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different
opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question."

Why is it better for a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied? Why is it better for
Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied? What satisfies a pig and a fool? A pig can be
satisfied even with a spoiled food, but not a human being. Socrates willingly chose to drink
poison rather than escape prison and death - that is for him a satisfactory choice; a fool or
most human beings would choose otherwise. Why? When we chose to do an act, we do not
only consider the magnitude of pleasure derived from the act but also the propriety of the
pleasure with regards to our status in the society or our status as dignified human beings. The
satisfaction of Socrates is not the same as the satisfaction of a fool or a pig. This difference is
not only a matter of degree but of ‘kind’.

Mill accepted Bentham’s idea of the greatest happiness for the greatest number of
people. But while for Bentham pleasures are only quantitatively different, for Mill there
pleasures can be qualitatively different.

An important addition of J.S. Mill to utilitarianism is the introduction of this


distinction between two kinds of happiness: the lower kind of happiness which refers to
bodily pleasures, and the higher kind of happiness which refers to the mental, aesthetic and
moral pleasures. J.S. Mill said that only those who have experienced these two kinds of
pleasures are the only ones who can judge which is better. J.S. Mill, therefore, promotes
legislation for the education of the masses to elevate their taste to enable them to appreciate
and experience higher kinds of pleasures. The higher forms of happiness are to be preferred
not because they are in a higher scale in the felicific calculus but because they are better ‘in
kind’ rather than in degree.

Mill concedes that we cannot at all devote our energies to computation of the effects
of our action just like what Bentham wanted us to do in his felicific calculus. That is why we
have to be guided by moral rules which passed the utility test. Most of the laws or rules our
society today are founded upon utilitarian principles. Learning and following these rules may
not automatically bring bodily pleasure but are ultimately good because they prepare us
intellectually and put us in a better situation where we can prevent pain and have higher
chances of experiencing pleasure. This idea of Mill presaged the later distinction between act
utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism.

According to act utilitarianism an act is good if the action produces the greatest
happiness for the greatest number of people.

On the other hand, according to rule utilitarianism an act is good if the rule behind the
action produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. The emphasis in act
utilitarianism is the single act; while in rule utilitarianism is the rule behind the act. The idea
in rule utilitarianism is that the constant or the consistent performance of the act will produce
the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

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