Supplementing and Correcting Jerry Bentham's Seven Standards Based on Islamic Doctrines

Among the moral theories presented by western thinkers, Jerry Bentham's theory of "utilitarianism" is one of the theories consistent with human's natural tendencies and propensities. It seems that the author of this theory has tried to make his theory consistent with human's tendencies; however, one of the problems of this theory is that it is merely based on materialistic view, whose author has encapsulated everything in the framework of this material world. Later thinkers have criticized Bentham's theory from various aspects. The writer of the present article, however, has adopted another approach to this theory, attempting to supplement and modify Bentham's seven standards based on moral themes of the Quran and Islamic traditions to encourage human beings to believe in God and Resurrection, and observe moral principles. In the present article, the writer has tried, on the one hand, to show the strength and perfection of Islamic knowledge, and on the other hand, to display the deficiencies of Bentham's theory because of his materialistic view and ignoring the other world and human's eternal life in the hereafter.