Bentham and Mill

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was.the first proponent of utilitarianism, the aim of which was the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. He strongly influenced English legal reform.

All men calculate.
- Jeremy Bentham

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was.England's foremost utilitarian philosopher. He was deeply influenced by the thought of Jeremy Bentham who was a friend of his father. Mill argued that goodness was definable as the greatest balance of pleasure over pain, for the greatest number of people. Whereas Bentham believed that pleasures differ only in their amount, Mill believed that pleasures also differed in kind and quality. This ethics looks to consequences rather than intentions in assessing the rightness or wrongness of actions.

Better a man dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.
- John Stuart Mill . Utilitarianism (1861)