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Jeremy Bentham

            Jeremy Bentham: The Principle of Utility.
             Bentham was very smart his whole life. He taught himself how to read without teachers at a very young age. He kept up his high pace education when he entered Oxford University at the age of twelve. In his early years he was an advocate of enlightened despotism, but later favored democratic reform. Bentham is most known for being one of the founders of the principle of utilitarianism. The other major founder of this theory is John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism is simply the idea of doing whatever promotes the greatest good.
             Bentham was an opponent of natural law. He referred to natural law as nonsense on stilts. Bentham believed law was a command of a legislator. So, unless nature was a being issuing commands, one could not speak of natural laws. He believed that what is natural to humans is the inclinations of pain and pleasure.
             In 1780 Bentham wrote the book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. In this book he expressed a good amount of his ideas and theory. The biggest of these being the principle of utility which he spent sometime talking about in this book.
             In it Bentham tells us that he believes nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. Their job is to point out what we ought to do as well as determine what we shall do. The standard of right and wrong and the chain of cause and effects are both fastened to their throne. The principle of utility recognizes this subjection, and assumes it for foundation of that system.
             Bentham says the principle of utility is the principle that approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: or, what is the same thing in other words, to promote or to oppose that happiness.


Essays Related to Jeremy Bentham

1. Jeremy Betham

Early eighteenth century philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, had a large impact on the world with his utilitarian views, with special emphasis on the legal system. ... For Bentham, pleasure and pain serve not only as explanations for action, but they also define one's good. ... In his work, The Rationale of Reward, Bentham gave a summary definition of virtue, which is as follows. ... It is obvious that Jeremy Bentham had a great impact in his time with his advancement of the importance of punishment as deterrence and his theories on utility and rationality. ... Overall, Bentham's theories...

  • Word Count: 1436
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Utilitarianism

Explain Bentham's version of Utilitarianism. ... A system of ethics proposed by Jeremy Bentham puts forward the view that "good" can be defined as the "greatest happiness for the greatest number." ... Bentham believed that whatever people did in a day would be judged on whether or not it benefited people in society. ... Bentham never really sorted out the distinctions or made them clear. ... Criticise Bentham's view of utilitarianism. ...

  • Word Count: 509
  • Approx Pages: 2
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3. Why has J.S. Mill's version of Utilitarianism proved to be m

Utilitarianism began life as an ethical principle under Jeremy Bentham who theorised that an action if right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people. ... Jeremy Bentham's theory of Utilitarianism was based on an observation, that the definition "good" in terms of "pleasure" and established that two things are intrinsically good namely pleasure itself and freedom from pain. ... However Mill did not succeed in abolishing all the shortcomings of Bentham's theory. ... Different pleasures bring different amounts of happiness to different people but in Bentham&#x...

  • Word Count: 1095
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Critiquing and Defending Utili

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) were the main reformers of the utilitarian principle. Both Bentham and Mill were active social and political reformers. ... In order for a moral theory to function as a practical guide to social and political questions, as Bentham and Mill saw, that theory must be as objective as possible. ... Candidates for intrinsically valuable properties included such like pleasure, which would apply mainly with Jeremy Bentham and happiness, which is relevant to John Stuart Mill. ... Jeremy Bentham was one such a person who believed in the measure...

  • Word Count: 1241
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5. The Pearl

He disagreed with Jeremy Bentham over the meaning of pleasure. Jeremy Bentham was the Father of Quantitave Utilitarianism who thought that "spiritual pleasures" are fake illusions. ... "# If Bentham is correct, Mill reasoned, then it would not matter whether the animal enjoying himself is a human being or a pig. ...

  • Word Count: 635
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Evolution of Philosophy

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) Jeremy Bentham is very popular for inventing the school of thought related to utilitarianism. ... Bentham took a key role in helping define many laws and interpret their meanings and their effectiveness through a utilitarianist lens. ... For Bentham the answer is simple: happiness is just pleasure and absence of pain. ... Marx's philosophy differs from that of Bentham in the sense that Bentham wants what is good for most, while Marx claims that every single person in society and not just the majority need to have their needs catered too. Although they differ in ...

  • Word Count: 1289
  • Approx Pages: 5
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7. The Utility Of Punishment

Jeremy Bentham was one of the first founding fathers to further this new system in England. Utilitarianism was introduced by the British theologian William Paley in his Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy and by the British jurist and philosopher Jeremy Bentham in his Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (Encarta). ... Bentham defined and shaped this theory of utility into the complex equation it is today. ... The physical sanction, according to Bentham, is the foundation for all the other sanctions. ... Jeremy Bentham, the founding father of Utilitarianism...

  • Word Count: 3279
  • Approx Pages: 13
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Panopticism or Fascism?

An idea from the mind of Jeremy Bentham, English civic philosopher and designer of prisons. ... (www.foucault.info.html) In the 1700's, a man by the name of Jeremy Bentham came up with an idea for a device that would allow those in power to maximize the observation of its population while at the same time, keeping the observed under control. ... So, Jeremy Bentham's "Panopticon" was in a sense, the perfect solution to this very real problem. ... The only problem with Bentham's idea when it was conceived was the time period. ... Jeremy Bentham's proposal is certainly mode...

  • Word Count: 1267
  • Approx Pages: 5
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9. Can Torture Be Morally Justified?

Many forms of utilitarianism have been put forth and debated since times of ancient philosophy however the more modern and well known theory is most often associated with the British philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806- 1873) who developed the theory from a plain hedonistic version put forward by his mentor Jeremy Bentham (1748- 1832). ... Moral justification is concerned with human behaviour, especially the distinction between good and bad or right and wrong behaviour in a moral sense (adhering to conventionally accepted standards of conduct based on a sense of right and wrong according to...

  • Word Count: 829
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Graduate

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