Utilitarianism

What It Covers

Jeremy Bentham developed utilitarianism in 1789, arguing governments should maximize happiness through calculated pleasure and pain. John Stuart Mill, G.E. Moore, and modern philosophers refined these ideas into contemporary consequentialism and welfare economics.

Key Questions Answered

• •Bentham's Calculus: Bentham created a systematic method to measure pleasure using seven dimensions including intensity, duration, probability, purity, and extent across populations. He believed ethical decisions could become scientific through quantifiable calculations, though acknowledged practical limitations in obtaining accurate data.
• •Diminishing Marginal Utility: Bentham recognized that additional increments of material goods provide less benefit to those who already possess more. This principle suggests redistributing resources from wealthy to poor individuals increases total utility, forming the foundation for modern welfare economics and progressive taxation arguments.
• •Act versus Rule Utilitarianism: Act utilitarians judge each action by its specific consequences, while rule utilitarians evaluate general rules by their utility, then judge actions by those rules. This distinction, formally named in 1959, addresses whether individuals should calculate case-by-case or follow established principles.
• •Higher and Lower Pleasures: Mill distinguished between intellectual, artistic, and moral pleasures versus physical gratification, arguing pushpin gaming cannot equal poetry. Only those who experience both types can judge, grounding utility in human developmental capacity rather than simple pleasure maximization alone.