Utilitarianism and Hedonism

Utilitarianism, in normative ethics, is a philosophical view that defines the morality

of an action based on its consequences. In other words, an action (or type of action) is
right if it tends to promote happiness or pleasure and wrong if it tends to produce
unhappiness or pain—not just for the performer of the action but also for everyone else
affected by it. One great example of this is the idea of democracy, wherein the one who
gets the majority of the votes will be elected. There are two prominent figures in
Utilitarianism which are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.

Utilitarianism is an effort to provide an answer to the practical question “What ought

a person to do?” For Bentham and Mill, the answer is that a person ought to act so as to
maximize happiness or pleasure and to minimize unhappiness or pain. But despite the
similarities in the ideology, both still have different views. The main difference is that
Bentham advocated that the pleasures and the pains differ in quantity and not in quality.
He said that pains and pleasures can be computed mathematically. But Mill said that pain
and pleasure can't be measured arithmetically they differ in quality only. Moreover,
Bentham recognized only external sanctions but Mill recognized not only external, but
internal sanctions also which would constrain the individual to promote general
happiness, because every individual possesses a feeling for the happiness of mankind.
Bentham's principle of utility, in a society of wolves, would exalt wolfishness; in a society
of saint it would exalt saintliness. But according to Mill saintliness should be the criterion
of utility in any society whatsoever. Additionally, Bentham utilitarianism supports the
greatest good of the greatest number. But here there is a chance for suppression of
minorities' rights, and so, Mill supported individualism. Bentham supported democratic
government in any condition but Mill supported monarchy for primitive man and
democratic government for people who are able to understand value of democratic
government. It means Mill supported democracy based on condition of man.

Hedonism in ethics, a general term for all theories of conduct in which the criterion
is pleasure of one kind or another. The word is derived from the Greek “hedone” meaning
pleasure, and from “hedys” which means sweet or pleasant. By definition, it is clear that
Hedonism and Utilitarianism have similar views on morality. The moral theory of
utilitarianism specifies what makes an action morally correct. Right actions are those that
achieve greatest happiness for greatest number. Similarly, hedonistic utilitarianism states
that the morally best action is the one that maximizes happiness and minimizes pain. The
main difference between the two is that Utilitarianism which is an ethical theory is founded
on the theory of value which is hedonism. Utilitarianism builds upon this to produce a
system of ethics rather than just saying that all value equates to happiness of some kind.
Lastly, since hedonism is a value theory it is more concerned on theoretical questions
about value and goodness of all varieties, questions that often cross the boundaries
between normative ethics and the metaethical rather than providing a clear guidance of
what is wrong or right (ethical theory) like Utilitarianism.

References:

West, H. R. and Duignan, . Brian (2022, October 19). utilitarianism. Encyclopedia

Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/utilitarianism-philosophy

Anuradha, K. (n.d.). A brief notes on Utilitarianism: A study on Bentham and J.S.Mill

views. Legal Service India E-Journal.
https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-3093-a-brief-notes-on-
utilitarianism-a-study-on-bentham-and-j-s-mill-
views.html#:~:text=The%20main%20differences%20between%20Bentham,they
%20differ%20in%20quality%20only.

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2018, April 6). hedonism. Encyclopedia

Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/hedonism