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Essay on The Greatest Good: A Critique of Bentham’s Utilitarianism - 112 words
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The Greatest Good: A Critique of Bentham’s Utilitarianism
Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarianism suggests that the best action is the one that creates the greatest happiness for the most people. He used a system called the felicific calculus to measure pleasure against pain. However, this ethics philosophy faces a major critique regarding the "tyranny of the majority." If we only care about the total amount of joy, we might unfairly hurt a few people to benefit the many. For example, is it right to sacrifice one innocent person to save five others? This tension shows that the greatest good: a critique of bentham’s utilitarianism reveals how pure math cannot always solve complex moral problems.