Philosophy

Philosophy Study Guide

©2018 of 126 eat and drink, and discuss philosophy. It was a serene retreat and everyone was welcome and treated as equals. 9.4 Bentham: The Greatest Happiness for the Greatest Number Bentham was a British philosopher who developed the moral theory of utilitarianism in response to the ills of industrialization. He was committed to social equality, democracy, public education, and a universal improvement in the public welfare. His writing was aimed at addressing the abuses spawned by the Industrial Revolution in England. He argued for an ethical theory that took the happiness and suffering of the working class into account. His theory came to be known as utilitarianism which was aimed to promote the greatest good for all people, not just the wealthy and it focused on the social consequences of ethical decisions. Utilitarianism is the view that we should act to promote the greatest amount of happiness and create the least amount of suffering possible for the greatest number of people. Bentham was a hedonist believing that humans not only necessarily governed by pleasure and pain (psychological hedonism) but also should be governed by pleasure and pain (ethical hedonism). Psychological hedonism is the view that all human desire is necessarily directed to achieving pleasure and avoiding pain. Ethical hedonism is the view that human desire and action ought to be directed to achieving pleasure and avoiding pain. Bentham expands the basic framework for his theory and expands it to a social philosophy by stating that his argument is that for each of us to achieve maximum pleasure, it is in our interest to live in a society in which all people have an opportunity to achieve genuine pleasure for themselves as well. In order to achieve that, we need to create a democratic society based on the principles of social justice and personal opportunity, enforced by the authority of the law. Bentham believed it was in our self- interest to help people fulfill their own self-interest and the moral guide of our actions is what Bentham termed the principal of utility which is to act always to promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number. In this particular writing, Bentham articulates the philosophical foundation for utilitarianism. It is a foundation that combines both psychological egoism and ethical egoism: the experiences of pain and pleasure determine what we shall do as well as what we ought to do. In Bentham’s theory, it is true that our thinking and behavior are in general dominated by the irresistible influences of pleasure and pain, and we have the freedom to make specific choices within this general framework. In seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, Bentham believed that people often make choices that are shortsighted, uninformed, unnecessarily cruel and exploitative. Bentham believed that through the power of education, people have the opportunity to becomemore informed and insightful and to make choices that reflect a more enlightened ethical standard. For Bentham, this ethical standard is the principle of unity which is promoting the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. The principle of unity recognizes the dominating power of pleasure and pain and seeks to harness and direct this power to more enlightened social ends. Bentham was determined to give his ethical approach a scientific grounding, an objective credibility that would compel social change by persuading people of its truth. Bentham’s priority was to effect social change by replacing the existing legal system with more socially progressive laws. He wanted people to believe that the principle of unity represented a rational, practical way of thinking that was Achieve Page 97