How did Jeremy Bentham’s moral arithmetic resemble Epicurean thought?

Jeremy Bentham’s "moral arithmetic" is deeply rooted in the Epicurean tradition, which identifies pleasure as the supreme good and the ultimate end of human life.12

Bentham’s moral arithmetic resembles Epicurean thought in the following ways:

• Hedonistic Foundation: Both philosophies are grounded in the belief that nature governs human beings through two sovereign masters: pleasure and pain. Bentham’s system, like that of Epicurus, treats these as the fundamental criteria for evaluating actions.34
• Calculative Approach: Epicureanism emphasizes the use of reason to guide the choice and limitation of pleasures to minimize pain, viewing prudence as the greatest good. Bentham formalized this into a "moral arithmetic," a systematic calculus designed to weigh the consequences of actions by measuring the intensity, duration, and certainty of resulting pleasures and pains.3124
• Utility: Both frameworks reduce ethics to the principle of utility. While Epicureanism focuses on the individual’s pursuit of a quiet, pain-free life, Bentham extended this logic to a broader social scale, aiming to maximize the net surplus of pleasure for the greatest number of people.1254

Ultimately, Bentham’s work is considered a modern evolution of the Epicurean stream, transforming the ancient focus on individual prudence into a comprehensive, quantitative system for legislation and social reform.524