The greatest happiness principle
Concept · Jeremy Bentham, developed further by John Stuart Mill · Philosophy, stage 1: Learn the vocabulary
The greatest happiness principle states that the right action is the one that produces the greatest overall happiness for the greatest number of people affected by it. Bentham first formulated it as the foundation of utilitarianism, treating pleasure and pain as measurable and comparable across people. Mill later refined the principle by arguing that pleasures differ in quality as well as quantity, so that intellectual and moral pleasures count for more than purely physical ones.
Why it matters
It gives utilitarianism its central test for right and wrong: not intentions or rules, but the actual consequences an action produces.
Part of
The greatest happiness principle in the glossary
Sources
- John Stuart Mill Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Mill Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
