Jeremy Bentham Utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham (1749-1832) was an English political philosopher and legal reformer who founded the theory of utilitarianism in An Introduction of Principles and Moral Legislation in 1789. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory derived from the Greek term telos, meaning ‘end’ or ‘goal’ because it holds that the final consequence of an action determines its moral validity, regardless of whether the nature of that intention. Bentham began with his definition of human nature, proclaiming that “human beings are under governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure”. We invariably seek pleasure and avoid pain wherein these antagonistic forces ultimately determine everything we do and what we ought to do. Bentham contended that happiness …show more content…
In An Introduction of Principles and Moral Legislation, although Bentham proposed that legislators should enact laws that will maximise the overall happiness of a community, he likewise proposed that judicial decisions, particularly when evaluating the legality of an action, should be decided upon whether the action itself would maximise the happiness of all parties involved. The utilitarian defence for the actions of Dudley and Stephens maintains that it was necessary to kill one person in order to save three; if Parker had not been killed and cannibalised, all four survivors would likely have died from starvation. Unlike Dudley and Stephens, Parker had no family members or dependents; his death would not have created a widow or leave a child without a father. Therefore, calculating the aggregate happiness killing Parker will cause: the survival of Dudley, Stephens and Brooks and the happiness of their respective families, and subtract the aggregate pain: the death of Parker, this action would tilt in favour of the overall balance of happiness over pain and …show more content…
Unlike the hypothetical “Trolley Problem”, R v Dudley and Stephens is a real-life example, lending itself much more credibility. In extreme circumstances, moral theory could be compared to its antagonists (comparing utilitarianism with Kantianism), which facilitates our investigation as to which moral theory can maintain its legitimacy. Therefore, making moral choices can hold up in short term, ordinary situations, since these choices would be unanimous and easy; it is only in extreme circumstances that the legitimacy of moral decisions must be scrutinized and dissected: if Bentham’s theory of utilitarianism fails to hold up in extreme situations, how can we be persuaded to apply it on a day-to-day