David Hume And Jeremy Bentham

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David Hume and Jeremy Bentham are two extremely different philosophers who were some of the first to recognize and create the utilitarian point of view. They have many different views between them such as the use of the term utility, but you can also see that Bentham had been influenced by the writings of Hume. Hume is not technically utilitarian, however he is known as the creator of the moral theory of utility. He thinks that the idea that moral principles are rooted in their usefulness and not in a religious context such as God’s will. His use of the word utility is different than others in the sense that it is not a scientific value that can make the outcome of a moral truth. Instead utility is used in more of a sentimental setting where …show more content…
He was heavily influenced by Hume’s influence. However, Bentham was more concerned with reform than Hume. He wanted to change the corrupt laws and social practices of the government. He felt that laws were bad if there was a lack of utility, or they lead to unhappiness. This is where he got the idea of utility from Hume and modified it. He thought that utility is a measure of virtue, however unlike Hume, He viewed it in more of a scientific sense. He attempted to create a model that should be used to make every decision that humans make by using his version of utility. Bentham stated that all human beings are ruled by two things – Pain and pleasure. His model for decision making is made to measure all of the pleasures and pain associated with or caused by an action. The procedure to make a decision follows these …show more content…
Hume just offers the beginning workings of what shapes the later utilitarians such as Jeremy Bentham. Each man respectfully has their own views on what utility is and what is means, how to calculate what is morally right or morally wrong. There are some major differences between the two, but since Bentham was pretty heavily influenced by the works of Hume, you do see some lap over. All in all, both have pretty weak cases for what drives humans to do the things they do, and neither provide an excellent standard for how humans should make decisions to be

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