In short, by pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain, we can create happiness in our life. As a possible solution to this problem, Bentham proposed a hedonistic solution - that happiness is just the state of having more pleasure than pain in our lives.
Sounds simple, right? However, it’s no secret that happiness can be tricky and elusive to obtain. The Secret to Happiness The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, 1907, via the Google Art Project.Īccording to Jeremy Bentham’s 1789 work Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, the path to living an ethically good life is to live a happy one. To interpret why it is wrong, we need to learn a bit more about Jeremy Bentham’s ethics and the Hedonic Calculus. Eader would be doing the wrong thing by choosing his ant farming over his cure. Eader wants to spend the rest of his life perfecting his ant farm in a cabin in the woods. Instead of spending these next few years on bringing his cure for the common cold to the world, Dr. Eader has also recently gotten into ant farming, so much so that this has become the only thing that he wants to spend his time on. Success is very close, and he knows that he’ll be able to finalize his cure within a few years.
He is a brilliant scientist who has devoted his life to finding the cure for the common cold.
Hedonistic calculus how to#
Eader is in the throes of an ethical dilemma and requires some sort of intervention on how to proceed with his life.
I would like to introduce you to my friend, Dr. Thought Experiment: Ant Farming or Curing the Common Cold? The Scientist by Rita Greer, 2007, via Wikimedia.
0 kommentar(er)
