Britannica Sources used in this answer

How did Jeremy Bentham define the greatest happiness principle?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Jeremy Bentham: auto-icon — Utilitarianism English philosopher and economist Jeremy Bentham's preserved skeleton in his own clothes and surmounted by a wax head, at University College London.

Jeremy Bentham, the founder of modern utilitarianism, defined the greatest happiness principle as the ethical foundation for determining right and wrong. He posited that nature has placed humanity under the governance of two sovereign masters: pleasure and pain. Consequently, an action is considered right if it increases the net surplus of pleasure over pain and wrong if it decreases it.12

To apply this principle, Bentham argued that one must impartially weigh the consequences of an action for everyone affected, adhering to the rule: "Each to count for one, and none for more than one". When calculating these outcomes, one must consider the intensity, duration, and certainty of the resulting pleasures and pains.1

Unlike later thinkers, Bentham did not distinguish between the qualities of different pleasures, famously asserting that "quantity of pleasure being equal, pushpin is as good as poetry". His goal was not to justify conventional morality but to reform it by providing a comprehensive, consistent system based on this single fundamental principle.1