An Investigation into Bentham's Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism can not be considered as Bentham's innovation. However, he offered evidence to substantiate it and proposed an everlasting interpretation of it. "Pleasure" and "pain" are two fundamental concepts in utilitarianism, because utility (good) means increase in pleasure and decrease in pain, and because utilitarianism, as the word itself signifies, considers the principle of utility as the main principle. Utility does not mean a personal utility, but a collective one, so that Bentham considers "the greatest good for the greatest number of people" as the measurement for any moral acts. The research method is documentary analysis. The result is that the greatest advantage of utilitarianism is that it provides an objective and practical measurement. In other words, utilitarianism claims that only the principle of utility, i.e., "the greatest happiness of the greatest number", provides the measure of right and wrong actions. Bentham, even, provides seven-fold measurement to evaluate the pleasures which are single and the result of action. These measurements fit into quantity aspect. Finally, the objections raised against Bentham's theory on utilitarianism are discussed.