Everybody wants to be happy. In order to reach happiness, man throughout history has followed many courses. But what is happiness? The opinions varied largely throughout history. Man has discovered a certain texture of “being”; he has realized that he is both, an individual and a part of a whole, society. According to this, he always made attempts to apply structure on the things and phenomena around him and thus tries to define happiness and find ways to reach and preserve it. True, the different views show certain similarities but there is still no unity today. However happiness might be defined, whether as a “good life”, as contentment or as the absence of physical or mental suffering or anything else, however it is believed to be reached and preserved best, the search for the essence of happiness always seems to be a quest for the holy grail. Otfried Höffe describes happiness as follows 1 : Happiness is an inclusive goal of man. It is not the top of a hierarchy of goals but an attendant circumstance of a success. Happiness is therefore not a thing and it cannot, like many other phenomena, be seen in this light. But things are easily imaginable for the human being. This might be the reason for the difficulties in defining happiness. It is a feature of being human to develop systems to arrange and organize things. Now, if happiness cannot be reified and therefore not be presented as an essence of existence, which is conceivable by everybody in the same way, it may for the present only be described as the satisfaction of the wants and needs of the individual. From this one may conclude that happiness can only be intentio indirecta of public action. Utilitarianism, as a system of ethics, roots in the period of Enlightenment. Based on a humanistic view, it is an important attempt to discuss the question of happiness in a reasonable and non-speculative way and make it a concern of all thinking and feeling creatures. But, as Utilitarianism treated happiness as intentio directa in the name of the principle of utility, Utilitarian overvaluation of mathematics and logic made many problems concerning the applicability of the theory in reality, arise.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Utilitarianism
2.1. Jeremy Bentham and the Fundamental Ideas of Utilitarian Theory
2.2. John Stuart Mill and the Improvement of Utilitarian Theory
3. Utilitarianism in Victorian England and in Charles Dickens’ Hard Times
3.1. Politics
3.2. Education
4. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines the development and application of Utilitarianism during the Victorian era, specifically focusing on the philosophical contributions of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill and their critical representation in Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times.
- The philosophical foundations of Utilitarianism and the principle of utility.
- Distinctions between Bentham’s quantitative approach and Mill’s qualitative refinements.
- The socio-political impact of utilitarian theory on Victorian life, including industrial policy and education.
- Critique of utilitarian ideology as reflected in the literary setting of Coketown.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1. Jeremy Bentham and the Fundamental Ideas of Utilitarian Theory
Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), philosopher, economist, jurist and leader of the Philosophical Radicals, is the “father” of Utilitarianism which is the underlying idea for political, economical and social reform in Great Britain. He introduced the term “Principle of Utility”. It says that every human action that maintains the public weal is demanded. Starting from the empirical assumption that everybody wants to satisfy his wants and needs, it is seen as a natural human feature to strive for pleasure and avoid pain. Therefore the things giving pleasure are considered valuable because they are useful, and the things causing pain are not. In the terminology of ethics this attitude is called Hedonism. On this basis, together with the empirically won knowledge that social values are not a priori but develop out of experience, it is now possible for Bentham to call everything that is useful “good” and use both terms synonymously. Value is thus the appropriateness for giving pleasure. Human actions therefore have to pass the “Utilitarian Test”; they are measured according to their consequences, their usefulness for society in general. In other words: The aim “the greatest happiness of the greatest number” is the measure of right or wrong. In Bentham’s conception this measure is a quantitive one. There is no differentiation of pleasures (and pains) according to their quality.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Discusses the historical quest for happiness and introduces Utilitarianism as an ethical system rooted in the Enlightenment that attempts to apply scientific logic to human well-being.
2. Utilitarianism: Provides an overview of utilitarian principles and compares the foundational theories of Jeremy Bentham with the qualitative improvements introduced by John Stuart Mill.
3. Utilitarianism in Victorian England and in Charles Dickens’ Hard Times: Analyzes the practical application of utilitarian thought in Victorian politics and education, highlighting its critical depiction in Charles Dickens' work.
4. Conclusion: Summarizes the inherent paradoxes of utilitarianism, arguing that the attempt to make human happiness entirely calculable ultimately leads to social and individual imbalance.
Keywords
Utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Principle of Utility, Victorian England, Charles Dickens, Hard Times, Hedonism, Laissez-faire, Education, Ethics, Rationalism, Social Reform, Philosophy, Happiness
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this research?
The paper investigates the history and development of Utilitarianism in 19th-century England, focusing on how its principles influenced society, politics, and education.
What are the core thematic areas?
The central themes include the transition from Bentham’s quantitative ethics to Mill’s qualitative theory, and the critique of these ideas as seen through the lens of Victorian literature.
What is the overarching research goal?
The aim is to evaluate how utilitarian principles were applied in practice during the Victorian era and to analyze the tensions between utility-driven rationalism and individual human experience.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The study utilizes a descriptive and comparative approach, drawing upon historical contexts and literary analysis of Charles Dickens' novel to critique the philosophical application of utilitarian theory.
What topics are discussed in the main body?
The main body covers the definitions of utility provided by Bentham and Mill, the impact of laissez-faire politics on the working class, and the role of "useful knowledge" in Victorian educational reforms.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include Utilitarianism, Principle of Utility, Bentham, Mill, Victorian Era, Hard Times, and the socio-ethical implications of calculable happiness.
How did Mill modify Bentham’s original theory?
Mill shifted the focus from a purely quantitative calculation of pleasure to a qualitative one, distinguishing between spiritual and physical pleasures, and introducing secondary rules to account for justice and individual rights.
What role does Coketown play in the analysis?
Coketown, the setting of Hard Times, serves as a literary case study for the "misguided" utilitarian drive to organize society solely through data, facts, and rigid discipline, often at the expense of human emotion and imagination.
- Quote paper
- Bettina Klohs (Author), 2003, Utilitarianism in Victorian England (with a special emphasis on Bentham and Mill), Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/25938
