Difference between revisions of "Jeremy Bentham"
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Revision as of 18:38, February 6, 2010
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was an English philosopher who popularized the concept of utilitarianism[1]. Utilitarianism is a moral philosophy which states that individual actors (or indeed government) should do whatever maximizes overall "utility" (pleasure minus pain).[2] If killing one innocent man saves ten other lives, then utilitarianism would favor it. Under utilitarianism there is no Christian morality, and it is replaced by comparing benefits versus costs.
Bentham influenced socialist reformer Robert Owen, who agreed with Bentham's idea of "the greatest happiness of the greatest number."<ref name=appraisal>
References
- ↑ http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/info/jb.htm
- ↑ Bentham started from the following premise: "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do." [1]