Jeremy Bentham and M.J.

Sandel

Bentham (1748-1832) was a London based moral, political, and legal philosopher. He believed that people are motivated primarily by desire for their own individual pleasure and dislike pain. He further said that pains and pleasures are our sovereign master. Pain and Pleasure What we ought to do? Determine What we shall do? On this premise, he formulated the Principle of Utility1 as a single simple rule that is, Act, so as to produce the greatest good for the greatest number. For this purpose, he further defined that good is pleasure. Therefore, 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 enhance 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. For Bentham, every action whatsoever means

or every action of a private individual every measure of the Government

By 'utility' he means any property in an object, whereby it tends to produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, good or happiness, or... to prevent the happening of mischief, pain, evil or unhappiness to the party whose interest is considered. Positive phrasing: Utility is the property in any object whereby it tends to produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, good, or happiness. Negative phrasing: Utility is the property in any object whereby it tends to prevent mischief, pain, evil or unhappiness. General definition: Utility is usefulness in producing something beneficial for happiness or preventing its contrary.

Similarly, party whose interest is in question includes

or
community individual

In order to be able to choose that what is good for the community at large or for us particularly, we need to understand the force of pleasures and pains. In other words, we need to understand the value of pleasures and pains. This value will be greater or lesser according to several circumstances or dimensions that are of interest. The charts below list those aspects
of pleasures that could be measured and estimated in regard to their effects upon individuals and groups:

Chart 1
What is being measured? = a Pleasure or pain (by itself) In which regard? = To a single person Dimensions: 1. Intensity: It simply means how strong or how intense is the pleasurable experience. That is if we permit particular action then how much pleasure it will give to an individual. 2. Duration: Duration means how long will be the experience and pleasure it brings at last. 3. Certainty or Uncertainty: It simply means how sure an individual will be to get the pleasure. 4. Propinquity or Remoteness: This dimension of Benthams felicific calculus meant that, does the pleasure easily accessible, or is it distant or, in other words, how soon the pleasure would be accessible; Is it remote or not?

Chart 2
What is being measured? = Tendency of an action In which regard? = To pleasures and pains

Dimensions: 5. Fecundity: Fecundity means a chance that an interesting perception is followed by the sensation of the same kind that is pleasures, if it were a pleasure; pains, if it were a pain. In other words, this dimension says that will the present pleasure be followed by the same kind of pleasure in future or not. This dimension of Benthams principle is not the property of pleasures and pains themselves rather it is the property of the actions by which it is produced. 6. Purity: Purity is something which means a chance that an interesting perception is not been followed by the sensation of the opposite kind that is pains, if it were a pleasure; pleasures, if it were a pain. In other words, this dimension says that will the pain follow the present pleasure in future or not. This dimension of Benthams principle is not the property of pleasures and pains themselves rather it is the property of the actions by which it is produced.

Chart 3
What is being measured? = a Pleasure In which regard? = To other people Dimensions:
7. Extent: The simple meaning of this dimension is that how many persons are affected

by the action or how far will the pleasurable experience spread. Apart from the above, Bentham defines certain terms also, which are as follows:

Community:
Bentham says that community is a fictitious body, composed of persons who are considered as constituting as it were its members. The interest of the community then is the sum total of the interest of the several members of the community who compose it.

Interest of the individual:

A thing is said to promote the interest, or to be for the interest, of an individual, when it tends to add to the sum total of his pleasures, or what is equivalent, to diminish the sum total of his pains.

On the basis of above analysis, we can understand the three important features of Utilitarianism:
1. For Utilitarians like Bentham, happiness is simply pleasure and the absence of pain.

People are happy insofar as they feel pleasure, unhappy insofar they feel pain; there is nothing else that goes into happiness. Abilities, achievements, friendship, and love all these are, at best, only mean to be happy, and only insofar as they give rise to pleasure.
2. The second feature of utilitarianism is that it counts all pleasures and pains, and it treats

every type of pleasure and pain as equal. If the quantity is the same, the pleasure of mocking someone counts just as much as the pleasure of helping someone. The pleasure of having a successful career can, in principle, be outweighed by the pleasure of eating a great many ice cream cones. The same goes for pains.
3. The third feature of utilitarianism is that it permits sacrificing one persons interests for

the sake of the majority. If the greater balance of pleasure would be produced by building a sports stadium rather than a hospital (for sake, because there are few sick people but many sports fans), then the principle of utility tells us to build the stadium even if a small number of sick people will suffer greatly as a result.

Weaknesses of the theory of Bentham:

1. The concept of happiness is not clear. Very vague: equated either with pleasures or with the public good. 2. Measurements and the units of happiness are arbitrary and subjective. 3. Disregard for motives and intrinsic values could lead to immoral and unjust consequences.
4. The social (altruistic) component could be too demanding if pursued strictly. 5. There is a very narrow dividing line between what constitutes pleasure and what

constitutes pain. Moreover, there are some people who like pain.

Questions that were raised by Michael J. Sandel

1.

Should you always try to maximize happiness? Should you always do whatever is necessary to minimize unhappiness? what if the only way to produce happiness, and to prevent unhappiness, is to harm or even kill innocent people, e.g. should it be legal for the police to use torture to extract information from the suspected bomber?

2.

There are times when telling people the truth would make them very unhappy. Should you lie to a person whenever lying is the only way to spare his or her feelings and prevent unhappiness, e.g. a moral duty to tell the truth despite the consequences?

3. 4.

In every possible case, the principle of utility tells us to choose the course of action that will produce the greatest amount of happiness. Is that right e.g. helping a needy poor, charity? Are some pleasures objectionable? ____________________