An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

1. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation Jeremy Bentham

2. Utilitarianism • Contains three elements: • Hedonistic theory of well-being: pleasure is good and pain is bad • Sum-totaling of well-being: pleasure and pain can be aggregated. • Maximization of well-being: only that action that produces the greatest balance of pleasure over pain is the morally correct action

3. The principle of utility • When Bentham talks of the principle of utility, he means the principle which prefers the greatest balance of pleasure over pain. • Bentham contends that as a matter of fact, people only (at bottom) pursue pleasure. This is a descriptive theory of hedonism. • Bentham also contends that what is good for people is just pleasure and the absence of pain. This is a normative theory of hedonism.

4. Principles adverse to utility • Bentham claims that a principle may be different from the principle of utility in two ways: • It could be opposed to it: like asceticism, the view that pleasure is bad and pain is good • It could be no principle at all: like the “principles” of sympathy and antipathy, where what is good or bad is just what strikes each person as good or bad.

5. Asceticism • Bentham contends that asceticism is the result of a mistake: in observing that many pleasures, when overindulged, cause more pain than pleasure, ascetics conclude that all pleasure is bad • Bentham contends that if only a tenth of being on earth really subscribed to asceticism even for a day, they would turn Earth into a hell.

6. Sympathy/Antipathy • Bentham accuses politicians and popular figures of subscribing to this principle (my, how times change) rather than any consistent set of values. • Sympathy/Antipathy are simply arbitrary, and are no good basis for morals or legislation.

7. Of the sources of pleasure and pain: When good things happen for a reason, they are rewards, when bad things happen for a reason, they are punishments. When things happen for no determinate reason, it is called a calamity if bad, or fortune if good. What follows are four sources of reward or punishment.

8. The sources: • Physical • When a punishment or reward is caused by one’s own actions • Political • When punishment or reward is caused by the law • Moral • When punishment or reward is socially inflicted (by other people) • Religious • When punishment or reward is caused by God

9. Utility as a source of morals and legislation • In outlining the previous, Bentham has a particular goal: to demonstrate that utility is the best principle to base morality and the law off of. • It is better than asceticism or sympathy/antipathy, and can influence all human behavior through the sources of reward/punishment. • What remains to be explained is how to apply the principle of utility. Bentham calls this the Hedonic Calculus.

10. Hedonic calculus: Total Pleasure/Pain can be calculated using the following parameters: • Intensity: How intense is the pleasure/pain? • Duration: How long does it last? • Certainty: How probable is it to occur? • Propinquity: Its nearness in time • Fecundity: How likely is it to generate more of the same? • Purity: How much pure pleasure, pure pain, or a mix of the two is it? • Extent: How many people are affected?

11. Study Questions: • Bentham says that a principle must either be diametrically opposed to the principle of utility or else completely arbitrary. Is he correct in this? • What makes Bentham’s use of hedonism different from Epicurus’? • Come up with a fictitious situation involving one person making a decision that will affect up to three other people. Do a hedonic calculus to make the decision.