Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy
The principle of utility conquers that a person’s act or behavior is either right if it endorses pleasure or happiness or wrong if it results in pain or sadness. From a philosophical perspective, the utility is said to be a teleological term. Historically, two philosophers, namely John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, talked about the principle of service. Notably, Jeremy Bentham employed the principle of service as an alternative to the problem of law and mortality. According to him, the principle of utility satisfies four conditions, namely, first, the policy acknowledges the role of pleasure and pain in human life. Secondly, it judges an action endingdep on the amount of comfort and suffering resulting from the consequences, thirdly, the principle correlates well with satisfaction and evil with pain, and lastly, pain and joy can be measured (Heilbroner 1748). Conclusively, the principle of utility guides people to create a balance of happiness over sadness by considering the consequences of our actions. Jeremy Bentham states that there are different forms of pain and pleasure. Those pleasures and pain are resulting from associations, expectations, memories, emotions, and thoughts. Similarly, pleasure may be brought about by relief of pain, while pain may result from the end of fun.
The principle of asceticism states that a person should engage in an act that will produce the least happiness for many people. The theory is the exact opposite of the principle of utility. Therefore, it conquers that people should indulge in actions that cause the least happiness, for instance, religious sacrifice. According to Bentham, the principle of asceticism resulted from speculations from people who believed that some pleasures resulted from pain. Bentham refutes the principle of asceticism by claiming that it is against the natural forces of pain and pleasure. Therefore the law of asceticism is linked to antipathy and sympathy because a person relies on emotions to make a decision. As such, actions are judged as either right or wrong, depending on how a person feels about it. One thing to note about feelings is that they are not objective, and as such, people use emotions to make their decisions.
Bentham argues that the principle of sympathy and antipathy refers to approving or disapproving action based on the expected consequences. Therefore, people decide if an act is right or wrong, depending on their emotions. Jeremy Bentham was against the principle of sympathy and antipathy because it does not satisfy the grounds of judging what is morally right or wrong(Heilbroner 1749). As such, the policy cannot be used to approve or disapprove an action. Further, Bentham rejects the principle of sympathy and antipathy by positing that the law of utility can be referred to as the happy principle as it asserts that action should produce the greatest happiness and the least pain.
Jeremy Bentham maintains in his arguments that the principle of utility is the highest principle of happiness as it asserts that a person’s action should bring about the greatest joy and the least pain. The principle of asceticism is the exact opposite of the law of utility because it states that a person’s action should produce the least happiness for most people. According to Bentham, this is wrong as the principle cannot determine what is morally right or bad.
Work cited
Heilbroner, Robert. “Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy: Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832).” 2019.