ASSIGNMENT NO: 1 on jurisprudence

TOPIC: BENTHAM & UTILITARIANISM

Submitted By
D.VENKAT KRISHNA REDDY
Third year B.ALL.B

Submitted to
Prof. M.S MANJULA.RS
Assistant professor of law
DECLARATION:

I hereby declare that the research assignment no 1 titled BENTHAM & UTILITARIANISM
carried out

Under the guidance of M.S MANJULA RS is a record of bona-fide research work

Undertaken by me in partial fulfilment for award 5 year B.ALL.B offered by Christ academy

Institute of law, Bengaluru. The said work is an authentic research and not submitted before

Any other university academic programs for the award of any degrees.

D. VENKAT KRISHNA REDDY

Reg No: 45419231019

B.ALL.B 5TH SEM

DATE: 13.01.2022

PLACE: BANGLORE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

First and foremost, praise and thanks in the God, the almighty, for his shower of

             Blessings throughout my assignment to complete it successfully.

             

I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my experience 

MS MANJULA RS, assistant prof., Christ Academy Institute of law Bangalore for

Giving me the opportunity to work on this assignment. 

                    I am very grateful for his help throughout the assignment.

          Although, this report has been prepared with utmost care and deep routed   

                      Interest.  Even then I accept respondent and imperfection.

                                                                                       D. VENKAT KRISHNA REDDY

                                                                                               B.ALL.B (B) 5thSEM 

                                                        
 CERTIFICATE

       This is to certify that the forgoing study by MR. VENKAT KRISHNA REDDY student
of

          Christ Academy institute of Law, Bangalore, in hereby approved as creditable

            Work on the topic “BENTHAM & UTILITARIANISM”.

Place:  Bangalore        

Date:  13-01-2022                                                         

                                                                                  

MS. MANJULA RS

                                                                     (Assistant professor) CAIL, Bangalore.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

 DECLARATION

 CERTIFICATE

 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 INTRODUCTION

 WORDS OF BENTHAM

 PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY

 ORIGIN

 MEANING & OBJECTIVES

 PRINCIPLES OF ADVERSE OF UTILITY

 SEVERAL PLEASURES

 CHARACTERSTICS

 CRITICISM

 CONCLUSION

 BIBLOGRAPHY
RESEARCH METHODODLOGY:

This research is a doctrinal research with an illustration an explanatory approach the concept
has been substantiated with the relevant case laws and the researcher has made critical
analysis.

1. Library research
2. Primary and secondary sources (books, articles)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

1. Whether Bentham’s philosophy influenced liberalism?

2. Whether objectives of utilitarianism useful for political obligation?

3. Whether three principles serve as axioms of utilitarianism?

INTRODUCTION:

Jeremy Bentham (1748 to 1892) was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social
reformer. He was a political radical and a leading theorist in Anglo – American philosophy of
law. He propounded the theory of utilitarianism and fair treatment of animals. He influenced
the development of liberalism.

Bentham was one of the most influential utilitarian. His influence spread all around the
world, through his and his students. These included his secretary and collaborator on the
utilitarian  school of philosophy James Mill, James Mill’s son John Stuart Mill, and several
political leaders. He attributed his theory to Joseph Priestley.

He also suggested the procedure called Hedonistic or felicific calculus for estimating the
moral status of any action. Utilitarianism was revised and expanded by Bentham’s student,
John Stuart Mill.
He was also the staunch supporter of individual liberty and right to private property. Austin is
called the father of the analytical school but it is. Bentham, who deserves this title. Bentham
also advocated for the codification of laws  and also advocated for the legislation.

Works of Bentham

Most of the writing of Bentham were never published in his own lifetime; much of that which
was published was prepared for publication by others. Works published in Bentham’s
lifetime included:

 Fragment on Government (1776). This was an unsparing criticism of some

introductory passages relating to political theory in William Blackstone’s
Commentaries on the laws of England.

 Introduction to principles of Morals and Legislation ( printed for publication 1780,

published 1789)

 Defence of Usury (1787)

 Panopticon (1787, 1791)

 Emancipate your colonies (1793)

 Traite de legislation civile et penale (1802)

Principle of Utility

Utility was defined by Bentham as “the principle which approves or disapproves of every
action whatever according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish
the happiness of the party whose interest is in question”. The principle of utility is designed
to promote the happiness of the individual or the community. The community can have no
interests independents of or aggressive to the interests of the individual. According to
Bentham, community interest is sum of the interests of the members who compose it.

According  to him the business of the government was to promote happiness among the
masses, by furthering the enjoyment of pleasure and providing security against the pain. For
him it was the greatest happiness of the greatest number of the people, which constituted the
principle of utility. A happy society constitutes a happy polity. Public good is the object of
the legislator.

To know the true good of the community is science of legislation and finding the means to
realize that good constitutes the art of legislation. According to his theory, mankind is always
under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. They point out what we
ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. They govern us in all our actions and
thoughts. In words a man may pretend to reject their the  empire: but in reality he will remain
subject to it all the while. The principle of utility recognizes this subjection, and assumes it
for the foundation of that system, the object of which is to nurture the fabric of felicity by the
hands of reason and of law.

The Benthamite legislator, seeking to ensure happiness for the community must strive to
attain four goals of subsistence, abundance, equality, and security citizens. He referred all
these goals as the function of law. The goal of security was paramount and principal one.
Next to security, he gave emphasis to the goal of equality.

Bentham never questioned the desirability of economic individualism and private property.
The law, according to him, can do noting to provide directly for the subsistence of the
citizens. It can impose penalty or give rewards, which indirectly act as the force behind the
subsistence of the individual. He did not force for the limitations on state interventions and
social reforms.

By the principle of utility approves or disapproves of every action whatever according to

tendency it appears to have to enhance or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest
is in question.

 Introduction
Utilitarianism is an English philosophy. It is a theory of morality. It is a tradition of ethical
philosophy. It advocates actions that foster happiness or pleasure and opposes actions that
cause unhappiness or harm, when directed toward making social, economic, or political
decisions. A utilitarian philosophy would aim for the betterment of society as a whole. It
would say that an action is right if it results in the happiness of the greatest number of people
in a society or a group.

Utilitarianism considers the interests of all humans equally. Though Utilitarianism is one of
the most powerful and persuasive approaches to normative ethics in the history of
philosophy. But this concept was not articulated until the 19th Century.

Origin

The traces regarding utilitarianism can be found in ancient Greek Philosophy

 The ancient Greek philosopher and hedonists Aristippus and Epicurus  viewed that the
happiness as the only good for well being of the people. Later this idea became
principle/doctrine and
 Scottish philosopher David Hume became the founder of Utilitarianism.
 English philosopher Joseph Priestly vigorously advocated the utilitarianism.
 Scottish philosopher Francis Hutcheson (in his book A system of moral philosophy')
was the first to use the formula of the greatest happiness of greatest number'.
 More over Cumberland, Shaftesbury, John Gay etc also supported the concept of
utilitarianism.
 English philosopher Jeremy Bentham made a systematic exposition of utilitarianism.
He made it most popularized. Later it was famously known as Bentham's School'. So,
the entire of popularizing Utilitarianism theory goes to Bentham, for giving a
systematic exposition of this theory, and making it widely known and its conceptions,
characteristics.
 J.S.Mill improved and modernized utilitarian approach to political obligation by
inducting qualitative aspect of its substance.

However, utilitarianism substitutes absolute empiricism for absolute idealism and

promotes egalitarian concept.
Meaning

 Utility means the quality or state of being used; the quality to satisfy human wants; a
public utility, a service provided by one of these.
 Utilitarianism means the doctrine, expounded by Jeremy Bentham, that the moral and
political rightness of an action is determined by its utility, defined as its contribution
to the greatest good of the greatest number.

Utilitarian approach to political obligation means the habitual obedience of the people to the
laws of the state because of its utility to promote the general happiness of the greatest number
of people. Utilitarianism is hedonistic, pragmatic and altruistic. According to G.H.Sabine, the
philosophical radicals hold that utilitarianism is the only guide to private morals and public
policy. Utilitarianism is its sole justification. Utility is the basis of Government.

 
Objectives of the State according to Utilitarianism
In the utilitarian State, political obligation depends upon the objectives of the State. When the
State sought to promote general welfare of the people, the people are obliged to obey the laws
made by the state.
The State exists for the individual. But the individual does not exist for the state. Therefore,
the state cannot absorb the individual. That means it is not purely supports individualism and
ealism.
 
The main object of the utilitarianism is enlightened benevolence
Enlightened Benevolence
Everyone seeks pleasure and avoids pain. Utilitarianism has an ethical appeal. Reason
reconciles self – regarding and other regarding impulses of individual. Utilitarian  approach
to political obligation does not separate individual from the society. It blends the individual
happiness with the happiness of others. This is called the philosophy of Enligtened
Benevolence.
 
There are three principles that serve as the basic axioms of utilitarianism.05:49 
Demonstrate Engineering Principles With Marshmallows
1. Pleasure or Happiness Is the Only Thing That Truly Has Intrinsic Value.
Utilitarianism gets its name from the term "utility," which in this context does not mean
"useful" but, rather, means pleasure or happiness. To say that something has intrinsic value
means that it is simply good in itself. A world in which this thing exists, or is possessed, or is
experienced, is better than a world without it (all other things being equal). Intrinsic
value contrasts with instrumental value. Something has instrumental value when it is a means
to some end. For example, a screwdriver has instrumental value to the carpenter; it is not
valued for its own sake but for what can be done with it.
Now Mill admits that we seem to value some things other than pleasure and happiness for
their own sake—we value health, beauty, and knowledge in this way. But he argues that
we never value anything unless we associate it in some way with pleasure or happiness. Thus,
we value beauty because it is pleasurable to behold. We value knowledge because, usually, it
is useful to us in coping with the world, and hence is linked to happiness. We value love and
friendship because they are sources of pleasure and happiness.
Pleasure and happiness, though, are unique in being valued purely for their own sake. No
other reason for valuing them needs to be given. It is better to be happy than sad. This can't
really be proved. But everyone thinks this.
Mill thinks of happiness as consisting of many and varied pleasures. That's why he runs the
two concepts together. Most utilitarians, though, talk mainly of happiness, and that is what
we will do from this point on.

2. Actions Are Right Insofar as They Promote Happiness, Wrong Insofar as They
Produce Unhappiness.
This principle is controversial. It makes utilitarianism a form of consequentialism since it
says that the morality of an action is decided by its consequences. The more happiness is
produced among those affected by the action, the better the action is. So, all things being
equal, giving presents to a whole gang of children is better than giving a present to just one.
Similarly, saving two lives is better than saving one life.
That can seem quite sensible. But the principle is controversial because many people would
say that what decides the morality of an action is the motive behind it. They would say, for
instance, that if you give $1,000 to charity because you want to look good to voters in an
election, your action is not so deserving of praise as if you gave $50 to charity motivated by
compassion, or a sense of duty.
 
 
3. Everyone's Happiness Counts Equally.
This may strike you as a rather obvious moral principle. But when it was put forward by
Bentham (in the form, "everyone to count for one; no-one for more than one") it was quite
radical. Two hundred years ago, it was a commonly held view that some lives, and the
happiness they contained, were simply more important and valuable than others. For
example, the lives of enslavers were more important than enslaved people; the well-being of
a king was more important than that of a peasant.
So in Bentham's time, this principle of equality was decidedly progressive. It lay behind calls
on the government to pass policies that would benefit all equally, not just the ruling elite. It is
also the reason why utilitarianism is very far removed from any kind of egoism. The doctrine
does not say that you should strive to maximize your own happiness. Rather, your happiness
is just that of one person and carries no special weight.
Utilitarians like the Australian philosopher Peter Singer take this idea of treating everyone
equally very seriously. Singer argues that we have the same obligation to help needy
strangers in far-off places as we have to help those closest to us. Critics think that this makes
utilitarianism unrealistic and too demanding. But in "Utilitarianism," Mill attempts to answer
this criticism by arguing that the general happiness is best served by each person focusing
primarily on themselves and those around them.
Bentham's commitment to equality was radical in another way, too. Most moral philosophers
before him had held that human beings have no particular obligations to animals since
animals can't reason or talk, and they lack free will. But in Bentham's view, this is irrelevant.
What matters is whether an animal is capable of feeling pleasure or pain. He doesn't say that
we should treat animals as if they were human. But he does think that the world is a better
place if there is more pleasure and less suffering among the animals as well as among us. So
we should at least avoid causing animals unnecessary suffering.
 
 
Principles Adverse to that of Utility
A principle may be different from that of utility in two ways:

i. By being constantly opposed to it as in the case of a principle of asceticism.

 
 ii. By being sometimes opposed to it, and sometimes not as in a case of the principle of
sympathy and antipathy.

Principle of Sympathy and Antipathy

By the principle of sympathy and antipathy, Bentham meant that principle which approves or
disapproves of certain actions, not on account of their tending to augment the happiness or an
account of their tending to diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question.
This principle meant the approbation or disapprobation of certain action by a man on ground
that a man finds himself inclined to approve or disapprove of them, holding up that
approbation or disapprobation as a sufficient reason for itself, and denying the necessity of
looking out for any extrinsic ground. The quantum of punishment, based on this principle,
dictates to punish less if man hates that action less more if he hates it more. 
The principle of sympathy and antipathy is most apt to err on the side of severity. It is for
applying punishment in many cases which deserve none: in many cases which deserve some,
it is for applying more than they deserve. There is no incident imaginable, be it ever so trivial,
and so remote from mischief, from which this principle may not extract a ground of
punishment.
 
Pleasures and pains
Bentham has referred the pains and pleasures by one general word, interesting perceptions.
Interesting perceptions are either simple or complex. The simple ones are those which cannot
be resolved into more: complex are those which are resolvable into divers simple ones. A
complex interesting perception may accordingly be composed either:

1. Of pleasures alone
2. Of pains alone
3. Of a pleasure or pleasures and a pain or pains together.

Several simple pleasures

The simple pleasures, according to Bentham, include:

 The pleasures of sense

 
 The pleasures of wealth
 The pleasures of skill

 The pleasures of amity

 The pleasures of a good name

 The pleasures of power

 The pleasures of piety

 The pleasures of benevolence

 The pleasures of malevolence

 The pleasures of memory

 The pleasures of imagination

 The pleasures of expectation

 The pleasures dependent on association

  The pleasures of relief

Characteristics of utility

1. It is hedonistic (pleasure) and pragmatic

2. It is based on quantity to happiness and not on the quality
3. It is concerned with the result, but not the motive
4. It is objective, verifiable and clear
5. it tells us how to regulate our conduct, it is universal.

Criticisms:

1. It is materialistic. It does not attach any important to moral actions.

2. He is concerned only with the happiness of the individual
3. It is impossible to measure the happiness
4. The concept of pleasure or happiness is to be sought
5. It makes people selfish and self-centered.

Conclusion

Bentham’s contributed his best in the creation of a “Pannomion”, a complete Utilitarian code
of law. Bentham not only proposed many legal and social reforms, but also expounded an
underlying moral principle on which they should be based. This philosophy, utilitarianism,
argued that the right act or policy was that which would cause “the greatest happiness of the
greatest number” often referred to as the principle of utility.
Though he supported the state interventions and reforms, he was a staunch supporter of
individualism and private property ownerships. Utilitarianism was revised and expanded by
Bentham’s student, John Stuart Mill. Bentham’s theory, unlike Mill’s faces several criticisms.

BIBLOGRAPHY:

1. Bentham utilitarian theory

https://pt.scribd.com/doc/7736952/Bentham-s-Utilitarian-Theory

2. Jurisprudence project utilitarianism

https://www.scribd.com/document/360129290/Jurisprudence-Project

3. Basic principles of utilitarianism

https://whizolosophy.com/category/debatable-issues-moral-questions/article/three-basic-
principles-of-utilitarianism-briefly-explained-2

https://www.thoughtco.com/basic-principles-of-utilitarianism-3862064