For Bentham, the only questions that need asking in such cases are: Does this harm anyone? Does it cause suffering? If it does not—if it makes those involved happy and hurts no one else (except through a self-inflicted “repugnance”)—then where is the problem? All that matters is that it is adding to the amount of happiness in the world instead of subtracting from it. Utilitarianism has sometimes been regarded as a cold thing, yet this strikes me as a generous and rather beautiful principle for living.
