Jeremy Bentham, author of the “Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation” (1789), and one of the founding fathers of Utilitarianism aimed to question moral issues of good and evil by simplifying any quandary to one question, what solutions preserves the most happiness and avoids the most pain to the greater number of people?
Problem Bentham Addresses Bentham defines good as what is beneficial, and he defines bad as what is detrimental. Pleasure and happiness are synonymous to good, according to Bentham, as evil and pain relate to bad. Bentham’s Utilitarianism is defined as an obligation to promote the greater good to the most number of people, while at the same time, avoiding the bad even if it meant leading the unjust or …show more content…
Intensity, or how strong? Duration, or how long? Certainty, or how sure? and Propinquity, or how soon? These are place holders, the “x” in algebra if you will, for circumstances which will be considered in the measurement of pain and pleasure. The two other dimensions Bentham’s calculus measured were: Fecundity, or how many more? And Purity, or how free from pain? Through these dimensions, Bentham was able to give a number information detailing how much pain and pleasure a person could receive from a certain act. Here’s an example of Bentham’s calculus: If my professor was to go to a party, and become intoxicated through the use of cocaine, he would feel pleasure. Let 's give him a number value to substitute that. If he started at 0 at the beginning of the night, while indulging with drugs his pleasure went up to 20. Later on he had intercourse with a woman, and his pleasure increased to 30. In the morning he woke up with a hangover and genital burns, which resulted in pain, decreasing his numeric pleasure by 35, leaving him at -5. He cancels class, so the students get the day off, which is pleasurable to them, so let 's give the students a 10 on the pleasure scale. Through this calculus, it is more beneficial for my professor to get high, have intercourse, and miss class, to myself and the rest of my classmates because we get a day …show more content…
There are many glaring holes in his hypothesi as well as a lack of significant proof behind his conclusions, other than vague definitions by default, and generalizations of a moral good.
I object Bentham’s theory of Utilitarianism and his belief that it is morally correct to preserve the greater good for the most number of people, while neglecting those who that “good” affects negatively.
His theory disregards the wants, needs, and pleasures of the minority of people by principle. That in itself is both unfair and unjust. Ironically cancelling out Bentham’s idea of a greater good, because what is good about people suffering? It is not morally, nor is it ethically correct to abandon the pleasures of a certain group of people, for the needs of a greater number of people.
Premises of My
Problem Bentham Addresses Bentham defines good as what is beneficial, and he defines bad as what is detrimental. Pleasure and happiness are synonymous to good, according to Bentham, as evil and pain relate to bad. Bentham’s Utilitarianism is defined as an obligation to promote the greater good to the most number of people, while at the same time, avoiding the bad even if it meant leading the unjust or …show more content…
Intensity, or how strong? Duration, or how long? Certainty, or how sure? and Propinquity, or how soon? These are place holders, the “x” in algebra if you will, for circumstances which will be considered in the measurement of pain and pleasure. The two other dimensions Bentham’s calculus measured were: Fecundity, or how many more? And Purity, or how free from pain? Through these dimensions, Bentham was able to give a number information detailing how much pain and pleasure a person could receive from a certain act. Here’s an example of Bentham’s calculus: If my professor was to go to a party, and become intoxicated through the use of cocaine, he would feel pleasure. Let 's give him a number value to substitute that. If he started at 0 at the beginning of the night, while indulging with drugs his pleasure went up to 20. Later on he had intercourse with a woman, and his pleasure increased to 30. In the morning he woke up with a hangover and genital burns, which resulted in pain, decreasing his numeric pleasure by 35, leaving him at -5. He cancels class, so the students get the day off, which is pleasurable to them, so let 's give the students a 10 on the pleasure scale. Through this calculus, it is more beneficial for my professor to get high, have intercourse, and miss class, to myself and the rest of my classmates because we get a day …show more content…
There are many glaring holes in his hypothesi as well as a lack of significant proof behind his conclusions, other than vague definitions by default, and generalizations of a moral good.
I object Bentham’s theory of Utilitarianism and his belief that it is morally correct to preserve the greater good for the most number of people, while neglecting those who that “good” affects negatively.
His theory disregards the wants, needs, and pleasures of the minority of people by principle. That in itself is both unfair and unjust. Ironically cancelling out Bentham’s idea of a greater good, because what is good about people suffering? It is not morally, nor is it ethically correct to abandon the pleasures of a certain group of people, for the needs of a greater number of people.
Premises of My