Essay on Jeremy Bentham Influence on Future

Jeremy Bentham, a philosopher and social reformist who pioneered the utilitarian approach, believed that the end state of an action justified the means. Further, he claimed that all pleasures were ranked equally and the same for everybody (Kay, 1997). Drawing upon these ideas, Jeremy Bentham would likely tell the transistor company that they should continue supplying their part to the pacemaker company. Under his

Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are known for their theories about utilitarianism. Both of them agree that the ethical right thing to do would be to maximize utility in any given situation. Yet, both of them disagree when it came to defninig pleasure. Bentham’s theory generalizes pleasure as just the same type of emotion felt by anyone and in any situation. Mill’s theory on the other hand stated that there are two different types of pleasure: the higher intellectual pleasure and the lower physical pleasure

In my opinion, Bentham’s argument for utilitarianism is unsatisfactory. Firstly, I will provide a background on his argument. Secondly, I will argue against Bentham and provide examples which illustrate the negative consequences of utilitarianism. Thirdly, I will argue that it’s practically impossible to maximize universal happiness.

Beccaria and Bentham were strong advocates against the death penalty and other overly severe punishments. In 1764, Beccaria published Of Crimes and Punishments and was one of the first to propose an alternative criminal justice system that was built on rational principles aimed for the determent of crime. It was in this book that Beccaria presented arguments against severe punishments and declared the importance of certainty in punishment (Beccaria, 1746). In 1789, Bentham published his own book, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, and proposed what would soon form the foundation to utilitarianism. He discussed how humans measured the value of pleasurable things versus those that caused pain. Bentham argued that

Jeremy Bentham is widely regarded as the father of utilitarianism. He was born in 1748 into a family of lawyers and was himself, training to join the profession. During this process however, he became disillusioned by the state British law was in and set out to reform the system into a perfect one based on the ‘Greatest Happiness Principle,’ ‘the idea that pleasurable consequences are what qualify an action as being morally good’. Bentham observed that we are all governed by pain and pleasure; we all

Bentham’s framework is a theory of Utilitarianism which can be summed simply in the more commonly used phrasing: “the ends justifies the means”. Or basically, that if the outcome of an action is perceived to be more beneficial than failing to perform the action, then the action used to achieve this outcome is

Jeremy Bentham is a teleological/consequential philosopher or consequentialist, one who focuses on the consequences and ends instead of intention and actions. Bentham’s focus carries more weight than that of Immanuel Kant or John Stuart Mill and their views. Jeremy Bentham’s philosophy focuses on measuring pain and pleasure for the greatest number of morally significant beings through their actions. Bentham presents guidelines that measure the intensity, duration, (un) certainty, propinquity, fecundity, and extent of the pain and pleasure that a certain action beholds and uses these measurements to determine if the action promotes the greatest good (being pleasure in Bentham’s case) for the greatest number of morally significant beings (Hoff 2017).

In essence, Jeremy Bentham believes that our moral behavior is governed by "two sovereign masters", that being pain and pleasure. Bentham argues that these "masters" preside over everything we do, everything we say, and in everything we think. As humans, Bentham argues, it is not our choice to decide to base our morality off of pain and pleasure, but instead we are dominated by these perceptions and are obliged to do so. He brings up the point of the principle of utility, which by definition is the judgment of a particular action in correlation with its effects on the happiness of everyone who is affected by the action. This utility isn't only excluded to self-pleasure, but more broadly, the "interest" of the whole community is calculated.

Jeremy Bentham was born on February 15th, 1748 in Houndsditch, London and died on June 6th 1832. He was a British philosopher who founded modern utilitarianism. Anglo- American philosophy of law was very important to Bentham, he was the leading philosopher of this law and he also influenced the idea of human well-being. Bentham was a strong advocator for the community and their people when it came to economic liberty, freedom of express, equal rights especially for women, discrimination of homosexuals and their acts, separation of church and state and a right to file for divorce. He made an effort to eliminate the death penalty, to stop bondage and to eliminate physical punishment which included children. One of them main reason Jeremy Bentham was very well-known was because was an advocator for animal rights (Sweet, 1969).

Jeremy Bentham was one of the first philosophers to present a fully developed system of utilitarianism. He thought that we, as humans, should evaluate the consequences of our actions, determine whether each action is morally right or wrong, and tally the pleasure and pain that comes as a result of our actions. Is it right for me to donate to charity? Is it right for me to cheat on my government test? These questions we ask ourselves fall under Bentham’s theory known as act-utilitarianism because it focuses on the consequences of every action we perform. Bentham argues that the “greatest happiness of the greatest number of people” (Bentham) is how we should determine right from wrong. He also believed “mankind is under the

While Bentham’s idea of a prison setting may, at first, appear to be worthwhile, I believe, more thought about the welfare of the inmates was not a concern. I do believe that prisoners to deserve a sense of privacy, as a human right. However, I do understand that many people do not believe in any right after a heinous crime has been committed. Many prisoners do hope to turn their lives around and try to become a better person. Having someone watch over you, every minute of the day may prevent that from happening, instead creating paranoia. I have to ask myself, what could be worse than having 300 inmates with mass paranoia? That would be a recipe for disaster.

He believed that “ all the causes that contribute to the improvement of the human species, all the means we have enumerated that insure its progress, must, from their very nature; exercise an influence always active, and acquire an extent forever increasing” (Excerpt from Outlines of an Historical View of the Progress of the Human Mind, 1). The improvement and progression of the human species can be seen by the increasing moral nature of human kind. During the Enlightenment, the philosophers like Kant and Bentham both thought morality could be turned into a science. Kant’s main idea about morality was a principle called the categorical imperative. He defines it as “act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law” (Groundworks for the Metaphysics of Morals, 3). Kant would say that any rational being can take their own will, and see if it could be a law for everyone. Kant additionally makes it clear that the consequences do not matter. For example, killing is wrong all the time no matter the situation. Another moral philosopher during the enlightenment was Jeremy Bentham. He is known for utilitarian philosophy, and defines the main utilitarianism idea as a principle that “disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question” (An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, 1). Anything that makes people happy is good, and the action that causes the most people happiness should be followed. For Bentham, the consequences do matter unlike Kant. Killing can be wrong or good depending in the situation. Bentham also tried to give a scale to gauge happiness so morality and happiness could be turned into a science. Both Enlightenment philosophers tried to give laws and equations to explain

Bentham’s concern was upon utilitarianism which assumes the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers. He believes that individuals weigh the probabilities of present and future pleasures against those of present and future pain (Postema, 1998).

Utilitarianism, defined as "the theory that an action is right if it seeks to promote the greatest amount of happiness in the world at large". This theory was started with the philosophies of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). "Utilitarianism gets its name from Bentham’s test question, “What is the

The utilitarianism, is one of the ethical theory genres which greatly affects the western and even world’s development of philosophy. Its originality can be traced back to ancient Greece Democritus and Epicurean Hedonism theory. Jeremy Bentham is considered to be the founder of the utilitarianism theory during the latter half through 18th century in England. Based on the theory of utilitarianism proposed by Jeremy Bentham, the proposal expounds destructive influence of utilitarianism on humanity shown by Charles Dickens' Hard Time. The proposal falls into two major parts - The introduction of Bentham's utilitarianism theory: What