Instead, Bentham proposes a test: If I do something, will it (so far as I can tell) make everyone involved happier, or will it make them more miserable? This is the “felicific calculus,” or calculation of happiness, and it is the central move in the ethical system known as utilitarianism. The process of applying it is invariably complicated, of course, by such questions as who makes the decision, how exactly the mathematics can be done, and what constitutes misery or happiness.
