What is Utilitarianism?
Utilitarianism defines a morally right act as being one, which creates the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. It seems simple and quite understandable but this is not the case and in fact, utilitarianism can become very complicated at times. Utilitarianists believe in judging an act according to it's outcome i.e. happiness. If the majority are happy then the act, whether it be legal or illegal, is automatically redeemed right. The minority in any case is not considered whether it is minute or a large.
Jeremy Bentham was the founder of utilitarianism. He was born in London on February the 15th 1748. Bentham claimed he could determine a morally right act by using the rules of utility. The rule being ' A morally right act is one, which creates the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.' Bentham believed that people pursued pleasure and avoided pain. He identified happiness with the presence of pleasure and the absence of pain. This meant, an action confirming the laws of utility is right, or at least not wrong. He claimed that a person acting to maximise his/her happiness would, in the long run, always be happy. Bentham also came up with a type of scale to measure happiness. This is called the hedonic calculus.