Bentham was concerned with human rights and democracy, he believed that happiness shouldn’t only be for one person it should be for lots if of people. Bentham would base his decisions on pleasure Vs pain, he would use the hedonic calculus to help him work out which action would produce the most pleasure. The Hedonic calculus looks at 6 main things; Intensity (how much pleasure or plain will it bring? ), Duration (how long will it last? ), Remoteness (how near is it how soon will it come?
David Hume introduced the concept of utility into ethics – and Francis Hutcheson first coined the phrase that is the objective of utility: “the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people”. Utiliterianism in general was articulated by Jeremy Bentham who was a hedonist. As a hedonist, Bentham regarded pleasure to be good and pain to be bad. Hedonism is the fundamentalist belief of utilitarianism. Bentham developed the hedonic calculus to help us asses and decide on a situation, based on utilitarianism.
He said, in principles of morals and legislation, 'nature has placed mankind underthe 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' The principle of utility Once Bentham had established that pleasure and pain were important qualities for determining what was moral, he developed the utility principle. The rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its 'utility' or usefulness, Usefulness refers to the amound of pleasure or happiness caused by the action - hence it is a teleogical ethical theory which determines a good act by the ends it brings about. The theory is known as the greatest happiness principle, or a theory of usefulness. 'An action is right if it produces th greatest good for the greatest number', where the greatest good is the greatest pleasure or happiness and the least pain or sadness, and the
It is also referred to as the theory of utility and encourages us to behave in a way in which is useful to society. Unlike natural law which is an absolutist and deontological theory, based on religious principals, utilitarianism is a teleological, secular theory which judges morality on the consequences. Aristotle believed that good conduct promoted happiness in society and Epicurius developed Aristotle's idea by claiming that a good life consisted of the maximum amount of pleasure and the least amount of pain. Another important figure in the utilitarian development is Jeremy Bentham, he is considered to be the founder of utilitarianism and his ethical theory is said to have had a significant influence on a number of philosophers including Peter Singer. Bentham believes that humans are motivated by a desire to experience as much pleasure as possible and avoid experiences of pain.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), an English philosopher and the most prominent name in relation of the founding of utilitarianism, described utilitarianism as “the greatest happiness for the greatest felicity of people”. Bentham believed that morality did not depend on faithfulness to abstract views derived from the teachings of Jesus. He however looked upon morality as an effort to produce as much happiness as possible in the world. Moreover utilitarianism is the ethical theory embracing that the morally right course of action is the action which results in the most happiness and maximizes the overall good in the world. This indicates that utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism as what is viewed to a morally correct action is based upon the actions outcome.
The difference between an uncritical egoistic hedonist and Epicurus is what outcome is being sought after. Uncritical hedonists base their selections on whatever will give them the most pleasure at that moment. Epicurus, and other rational/critical egoistic hedonists base their choices on what will lead to the most pleasure (or least amount of pain) in the future. According to his philosophy, the only way to attain long-term pleasure is to practice the virtues of simplicity and prudence in every aspect of life. Epicurus believed one must understand the desires that motivate him to attain peace of mind.
Providing arguments for the hedonism and desire satisfactionist against knowledge being counted as a basic good can be accomplished by outlining their respective positions and then show that knowledge need not be a basic good in those systems. In this paper, I will first outline hedonism, then show how knowledge is excluded as a basic good. Then I will outline desire satisfactionism and show how knowledge is excluded as a basic good in that system as well. Hedonism states that a life is good for the person who lives it if that life contains a favorable balance of pleasure over pain.Since this is the case, according to hedonism, knowledge is not a basic good, pleasure is the basic good. The reason why knowledge is not a basic good is because hedonism gives it no value toward the evaluation of lives.
Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes utility, usually defined as maximizing happiness and reducing suffering. Classic utilitarianism's two most influential contributors are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. John Stuart Mill in his book Utilitarianism, stated, "In the golden rule of Jesus of Nazareth, we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility. To do as one would be done by, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, constitute the ideal perfection of utilitarian morality." According to Bentham and Mill, Utilitarianism is hedonistic only when the result of an action has no decidedly negative impact on others.
Mill defines happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain. He argues that pleasure can differ in quality and quantity, and that pleasures that are rooted in one's higher faculties should be weighted more heavily than baser pleasures. Furthermore, Mill argues that people's achievement of goals and ends, such as virtuous living, should be counted as part of their happiness. Mill argues that utilitarianism coincides with "natural" sentiments that originate from humans' social nature. Therefore, if society were to embrace utilitarianism as an ethic, people would naturally internalize these standards as morally binding.
The concept of utilitarianism has the ability to be seen from many different viewpoints. While Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are two of the greatest believers in utilitarianism of our time, they seem to clash on many issues, such as whether certain concrete things are required in order to achieve true happiness, or whether the concept of happiness is more of a grey area and if one is willing to achieve happiness, he or she should merely live life by his or her own values and rules. Bentham seems to agree with the latter and believes that all pleasures are equal, and if one enjoys something, no one should tell that person otherwise whether he or she is living life right or wrong. On the other hand, Mill seems to endorse achieving the highest pleasures only, specifically those of high intellectual caliber, as he believes that human pleasures would be very similar to those of animals if Bentham’s theory was correct. Also, Mill believes that society’s moral standards would decline if lower quality pleasures were pursued.