Making the argument below for utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham has really, we think, made the argument against it:
Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.
There’s no mention here of future consequences of one’s actions. Moment to moment you act to get pleasure and avoid pain, and the actions make your future turn out wonderfully?
(Jeremy Bentham is quoted on page 29 of The Hesitant Hand: Taming Self-interest in the History of Economic Ideas, by Steven G. Medema, Princeton University Press, 2009.)
For a brief biography of Jeremy Bentham, click here. For images of or relating to Jeremy Bentham, click here. To learn about Steven G. Medema, click here.
Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.
There’s no mention here of future consequences of one’s actions. Moment to moment you act to get pleasure and avoid pain, and the actions make your future turn out wonderfully?
(Jeremy Bentham is quoted on page 29 of The Hesitant Hand: Taming Self-interest in the History of Economic Ideas, by Steven G. Medema, Princeton University Press, 2009.)
For a brief biography of Jeremy Bentham, click here. For images of or relating to Jeremy Bentham, click here. To learn about Steven G. Medema, click here.
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