You follow the path for about a mile and begin to see a village in the clearing. The community seems quite large – this must be a popular enclave. A lot of people are scurrying around, and many are holding calculators and are tapping away at them frantically. Unlike the palace where Pip lived, this village has rather sturdy looking houses and they are all very similar in design and décor. While it looks comfortable enough, the people here seem to be quite busy and industrious. You wonder if you should have just stayed with Pip eating candy and playing video games. But, you must think about those you left behind at the library and continue your quest for the good of your friends.
You see a man giving direction to all the villagers with calculators. He is a studious looking gentleman, and he greets you as you approach. “Hello, my name is Jeremy Bentham. May I help you?” he inquires.
“Yes, I’m ,” you reply. “Pip and Epicuria sent me to you. I am on a quest to learn about ethical systems so that I may restore my civilization. While Hedonism and Epicureanism had some attraction for me, I didn’t find those theories fulfilling. Maybe they were too focused on pleasure or perhaps too self-centered” you explain.
“Well, that is an interesting assessment,” he answers. “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.”[1] He continues, “But here we are not just concerned for our own personal happiness, but instead are concerned to maximize the happiness of the whole community. Your own happiness cannot be privileged in any way. You must always take into account everyone’s happiness. You see all the villagers with calculators? They are assessing various ethical choices and calculating how much pleasure each option will bring for the whole.”
“Like a mathematical formula?” you ask in wonder.
“Precisely, !” Jeremy explains. “You must add up the amount of pleasure a choice will bring and subtract the pain it might cause, and whichever choice maximizes pleasure is the ethical choice. Now of course this calculus is not that simple. You must take into account the intensity of the pleasures and pain, so you need to weight your pleasure unit. Also, factor in the fact that pleasure that lasts longer and occurs sooner is more valuable. The calculus is really quite complex and contains a number of other considerations.”
“Wow!” you reply. “That is really quite complicated to do every time you need to make a decision. And I wonder if my estimation of pleasure would be the same as yours – if we are concerned for the whole, wouldn’t we need some type of standardization? Other problems I see are…”
“Well, of course it is not simple.” Bentham interrupts, “I have a whole village of people who spend their entire day trying to complete the calculus. Take Mr. Norcross over there for instance. He is a playful fellow at heart, but spends much of his time conducting various calculations.”
You sigh heavily. “This is so complicated. I kind of wish I had stayed with Pip playing video games. Of course that is no life, right? I mean, there have got to be better things to do in life than video games, and I don’t think Pip is motivated by anything but his own passions.”
“You worry too much, .” Jeremy retorts. “Truly, the nature of the act and the motive do not matter. You need only concern yourself with results. And as I tell my followers, ‘Quantity of pleasure being equal, pushpin is as good as poetry.’[2] But your worries are similar to one of my keenest disciples named John. If you walk a little farther you’ll come across a brick building where he works. He can explain his theories to you. But it was a pleasure to meet you. Take this manuscript that explains my theories of Utilitarianism.”
[1]Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to Morals and Legislation.
[2]Bentham quotation given in J. S. Mill, "Bentham," in John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism, On Liberty, and Essay on Bentham. Ed. M. Warnock. [New American Library, 1974]
