Authors and thinkers
Thinker

Jeremy Bentham

3 key ideas, each explained in our own words.

Bentham: Greatest Happiness

  1. IDEA 1

    Utility as the measure

    Bentham judged actions and laws by their effects on pleasure and pain for everyone affected. Policy should aim for the greatest happiness of the greatest number.

  2. IDEA 2

    Everyone counts equally

    In his calculation each person's happiness counts as one, no more and no less. This made utilitarianism a reforming force against privilege.

  3. IDEA 3

    Reform by design

    He proposed practical reforms to prisons, law and administration based on outcomes. Ask what a rule actually achieves, not what tradition says.

All 3 ideas from Bentham: Greatest Happiness →

Debates featuring Jeremy Bentham

Do good ends justify questionable means?Results matter most vs Means shape endsShould the death penalty be abolished?Retain for the gravest crimes vs Abolish it

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