Topic > Jeremy Bentham and the Founding of Utilitarianism

In the 1800s the Industrial Revolution caused many people to reconsider the laws introduced into society. One of the people who wanted change was an English philosopher named Jeremy Bentham. His views on law came from this industrial revolution in the 18th century, there were many laws that Jeremy Bentham thought were unjust, this is what he wanted to change. And he did, using the utility. This essay will explain something about him and what inspired him to reform the law rather than practice it. He will also talk about his core belief known today as utilitarianism. We will then move on to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of Utility and utilitarianism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Bentham was an English philosopher, a social reformer who founded utilitarianism, and a jurist. He was from Houndsditch, City of London, United Kingdom, born in 1748 and died at the age of 84 after living a long, successful life. He was a supporter of individual and economic freedoms, the separation of church and state, the right to divorce and went further, calling for equal rights for women. Bentham also wanted to abolish slavery and capital punishment and also wanted animal rights. He also did not believe in natural law. Bentham came from a family of lawyers and attended Westminster School, as well as Queen's College, Oxford. He then became a practitioner of the law before abandoning it because he was frustrated with the complexity of the law and how unjust the law became. His views were structured by the industrial revolution and the way people were treated and this is why he wanted to reform the law. He influenced many philosophers who followed his line of work after his death on June 6, 1832. Jeremy Bentham once exclaimed, "The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morality and legislation." This quote explains that actions are deemed right if they are useful or benefit society. This is what Jeremy Bentham ultimately believed: laws should be introduced into society if they bring the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people. He believed that the basis and origin of law came from this idea called utility. He wanted to recreate the law to work with society and ensure that the laws introduced increased pleasure and happiness. Bentham also believed that actions have consequences and if you experience more pleasure in performing a specific action the consequence will be that you will experience pleasure. However, if we perform an action that causes pain, the consequences will also be painful. An advantage of utilitarianism is the fact that it is a theory that works to implement good in society and create laws that will benefit society at large. We are looking for actions that will provide us with the most pleasant result overall. This would be an advantage because overall it would introduce positive actions and consequences into society. It influences people to choose actions that will benefit them and make them experience more pleasure than pain. Utilitarianism is a process that allows us to independently determine what is morally and ethically right and wrong. It focuses on the outcome of the action otherwise known as the consequence instead of the reason behind the action. It also includes science in the equation which provides comfort to some people because when using science it has to be supported by evidence and this provides evidence so it means more people would support this theory and not question it. Another advantage of utilitarianism is the fact that the idea is based.