Bentham’s theory is intriguing but flawed. For instance, he didn’t distinguish, qualitatively, one pleasure from another. The pleasure accrued by helping a little old woman across the street was for him on par with the pleasure a sadist derived by beating that same old woman senseless. For Bentham, pleasure was pleasure. Another pitfall: Utilitarianism is interested only in making the majority of people happy. It is concerned with the happiness of the many, not the misery of the few, which is fine if you are lucky enough to be among the happy many, but not so fine if you find yourself among
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