Jeremy Bentham was an English theorist. He is known for his concept of Utilitarianism, which is the concept that an individual’s actions are just if they are useful or produce the greater good for the majority. I agree with some of Bentham examples of pleasures and pains, but also disagree with a few. I agree with the pleasure of amity and pleasure of skill. I also agree with the pains of disappointment and pains of awkwardness. However, I do not agree with the pleasure of power or malevolence. Does Utilitarianism justly explain why some individuals act the way they do? Or is it really based off of these pleasures and pains that individuals feel and act upon. Utilitarianism may seem as if it is a universal concept that the same everywhere, …show more content…
How do we decide what is considered moral and bad? Bentham made a list of consequences that are based off of pleasure and pain. So, as a society, we are to approve or disapprove of any action ‘according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question’ (Riddall, pg. 154). Bentham claimed that the hedonistic value of any human action can be viewed as this; by bearing in mind how strongly the desire is felt and how long that desire lasts then it is probable that it will guarantee benefits which outweigh the troubles. The pleasures so sense, wealth, skill, and power have gotten the majority of populations into trouble. As has the pains of desire, disappointment, regret, and enmity. I see the pleasure of dense and wealth to be the most prominent in our world today as is the pains of desire and enmity to be the other big two. However, I do not think that the pleasure of power or pleasure of malevolence is a just pleasure and should not be taken into account for any sort of happiness that is gained from either. Even though there is a calculus to figure out the balance of goodness and badness for each pleasure and pain, I do not think those two are acceptable. Bentham does state a many pleasures and pains that would result in the happiness of the majority, but not every individual has the same moral justifications and may have different ideas of