CSS Solved Political Science 2023 Past Paper | Explain Bentham’s greatest happiness of the greatest number.
The following question is attempted by Miss Durr e Shahwar Khan, the top scorer in CSS Political Science papers. Moreover, the answer is written on the same pattern, taught by Sir to his students, scoring the highest marks in compulsory subjects for years. This solved past paper question is uploaded to help aspirants understand how to crack a topic or question, how to write relevantly, what coherence is, and how to include and connect ideas, opinions, and suggestions to score the maximum.
Question breakdown
In this question, the examiner has asked to explain Bentham’s philosophy of the greatest happiness of the greatest number. So, first of all, you’ll give a brief introduction to Bentham’s philosophy. Next, you will elaborate on Bentham’s greatest happiness principle in detail. Then, there will be a criticism of Bentham’s greatest happiness principle followed by a critical analysis and conclusion. By following this approach, you will be scoring the highest marks. Usually, aspirants start writing answers without breaking the topic into its asked segments. So, let me write the answer for you to understand how to attempt a Political Science question to score the maximum.
Outline
1- Introduction
2- Cursory Glance at Bentham’s Philosophy of Utilitarianism
3- Bentham’s Concept of Hedonism
- ✓ Pleasure as the ultimate goal of human life
- ✓ Intrinsic goods and extrinsic values
4- The Greatest Happiness Principle
- ✓ Evaluating actions and policies based on overall happiness
- ✓ Greater good over individual happiness
- ✓ Implications for criminal justice
5- Bentham’s Contributions to Welfare Economics
- ✓ Economic policies aimed at overall happiness
- ✓ Government intervention in the economy
- ,✓ Provision of public goods and services
6- Criticisms of the Greatest Happiness Principle
- ✓ Measuring overall happiness is not practical
- ✓ Balancing individual happiness and overall happiness ✓ Ignoring individual rights and promoting tyranny of the majority
7- Critical Analysis
8- Conclusion
Answer to the question
Introduction
Jeremy Bentham was an eighteenth-century social reformer and philosopher who is best known for utilitarianism, a philosophical theory that entails that the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people should be the guiding principle of actions and policies. He believed that the purpose of human life was to maximize pleasure and minimize pain and that the best way to achieve this was to encourage the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Moreover, this idea formed the foundation of the greatest happiness principle, which Jeremey Bentham considered the cornerstone of his moral and political philosophy.
Cursory Glance at Bentham’s Philosophy of Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism- a political and moral philosophy- emphasizes the importance of maximizing collective happiness and minimizing collective suffering. Bentham promoted that humans’ ultimate goal was to achieve the greatest amount of pleasure and avoid the greatest amount of pain. Bentham utilitarianism – a moral philosophy – entails that the best action is the one that maximizes overall well-being (or “utility”). According to Bentham, the utility can be quantified and measured, and the moral value of an action or policy can be determined by the sum total of its positive and negative effects on all affected individuals. He believed that the goal of ethics and policy should be the promotion of the collective and greatest happiness.
Bentham’s Concept of Hedonism
Bentham’s concept of utilitarianism was closely tied to his belief in hedonism, which holds that pleasure is the ultimate goal of human life. Bentham believed that pleasure was the most important aspect of human existence and that all human actions should be guided by the desire to achieve the greatest amount of pleasure and avoid the greatest amount of pain. Furthermore, Bentham also recognized the importance of intrinsic goods, which are goods that are valuable in and of themselves, as well as extrinsic values, which are goods that are valuable because of their ability to produce other goods. He believed that intrinsic goods, such as knowledge and friendship, were essential for human happiness, and that extrinsic values, such as wealth and power, were important for promoting the overall happiness of society.
The Greatest Happiness Principle
The Greatest Happiness Principle is a key component of utilitarianism, and It asserts that policies and actions should be judged based on their capacity to generate the maximum level of total happiness. Bentham believed that this principle should be the guiding principle of all human behaviour, as it encourages the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Besides, he also believed that this principle should be applied to all aspects of human life, including politics, economics, and the criminal justice system.
Besides, Bentham believed that overall and collective happiness should take priority over the happiness of individual people. He argued that, in certain cases, it was necessary to sacrifice the happiness of a few individuals to promote the overall happiness of society. For example, he believed that punishment was necessary for the maintenance of social order, even though it may cause suffering for the person being punished.
In addition to that, Bentham’s utilitarianism also carried a significant impact on criminal justice. According to Bentham, punishment should serve as a tool for increasing the general happiness of the society. He proposed that punishment should be implemented to discourage individuals from committing crimes, to reform criminals, and to secure society from potential harm. Moreover, he held the view that the punishment should be proportional to the offense committed, and be executed in a manner that maximizes overall happiness.
Bentham’s Contributions to Welfare Economics
Bentham was a firm believer in the idea that the goal of economic policy should be to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number. He argued that the government had a responsibility to intervene in the economy in order to promote overall happiness and that this intervention should be guided by the principles of the Greatest Happiness Principle. For example, Bentham believed that the government should be involved in providing public goods and services, such as education and healthcare, to ensure that everyone had access to the resources they needed to lead happy and fulfilling lives.
Likewise, Bentham was a strong advocate of government intervention in the economy, and he believed that the government had a duty to promote the overall happiness of society. He believed that the government should take an active role in ensuring that the economy was operating efficiently and fairly and that everyone had access to the resources they needed to live happy and fulfilling lives. Bentham also believed that the government should intervene in the economy in order to correct market failures, such as monopolies and externalities, that prevented the market from achieving its full potential.
Furthermore, Bentham was a firm believer in the idea that public goods and services, such as education and healthcare, were essential for promoting the overall happiness of society. He argued that everyone should have access to these resources, regardless of their ability to pay, and that the government should be responsible for ensuring that they were available to all. Bentham believed that the provision of public goods and services was an important way to promote overall happiness, as it ensured that everyone had access to the resources they needed to lead happy and fulfilling lives.
Criticisms of the Bentham’s Greatest Happiness Principle
One of the main criticisms of the Greatest Happiness Principle is the difficulty of measuring overall happiness. Bentham himself acknowledged that it was difficult to determine the overall happiness of a population and that it was even more difficult to determine the overall happiness of society as a whole. Critics argue that, without a way to accurately measure overall happiness, it is impossible to determine whether policies are actually promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
In addition to this, another criticism of the Greatest Happiness Principle is that it is difficult to balance individual happiness and overall happiness. Bentham believed that the greatest good of the greatest number should take priority over the happiness of individual people, but critics argue that this can lead to the promotion of the tyranny of the majority. They argue that, in certain cases, it may be necessary to sacrifice the happiness of a few individuals to promote the overall happiness of society, and that this can result in the violation of individual rights and freedoms.
Besides, critics argue that the Greatest Happiness Principle can be used to justify the violation of individual rights and freedoms, as it places the greatest good of the greatest number above the happiness of individual people. They argue that this can result in the promotion of the tyranny of the majority, as policies that promote the overall happiness of society may be harmful to certain groups or individuals. Additionally, critics argue that the Greatest Happiness Principle can be used to justify the oppression of minority groups, as the majority may be willing to sacrifice the happiness of a few individuals in order to promote their own happiness.
Critical analysis
In the critical diagnosis, Jeremy Bentham’s principle of “the greatest happiness of the greatest number” is a central idea in utilitarianism. One strength of this principle is that it provides a clear and straightforward criterion for evaluating the morality of actions and policies. By focusing on the impact of an action on overall happiness, utilitarianism allows us to make systematic and objective evaluations of ethical questions. However, this principle also has several critical weaknesses. Since, it does not take into account other important values and ethical considerations, such as justice, equality, and fairness. As a result, utilitarianism can sometimes generate counterintuitive and morally problematic conclusions. Conclusively, while the greatest happiness principle provides a useful framework for evaluating ethical questions, it also has significant limitations and weaknesses. Utilitarianism needs to be supplemented with other ethical theories and considerations in order to provide a more complete and nuanced evaluation of actions and policies.
Conclusion
In the nutshell, Bentham’s greatest happiness principle is a central idea in utilitarianism and asserts that policies and actions should be judged and evaluated based on their capacity to generate maximum level of overall happiness. Bentham believed that this principle could be used to guide political and social decisions. Moreover, Bentham’s greatest happiness principle has had a perpetual impact on social and political thought. It has influenced the development of welfare economics and has been used to justify government intervention in the economy. It has also been used to argue for the importance of criminal justice reform and the protection of individual rights.
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