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Hello in 1789 the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham published one of his most important works in which he developed his theory of utility titled

An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, it's one of the founding texts of modern utilitarianism.

He argued, quote, an action may be said to be conformable to utility when the tendency it has

to augment the happiness of the community is greater

than any it has to diminish it." The aim of government he said should be the

greatest happiness of the greatest number. His ideas were developed by John Stuart Mill, the son of

one of Benton's closest friends. They were taken up by further generations of

philosophers and the refinements on utilitarianism affect many decisions we and governments make today.

With me to discuss utilitarianism are Melissa Lane, the class of

1943 professor of politics at Princeton University, Janet Radcliffe Richards, Professor of

Practical Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and Brad Hooker a Professor of Moral Philosophy

at the University of Reading. Melissa Lane, how far did the ancient philosophers develop ideas that fed into utilitarianism?

Ancient thought supplies the content of utilitarianism rather than its form.

So if we think the content is the principle of utility,

what does that mean by welfare?

And the ancient philosopher Epicurus suggested that that was determined by pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain.

And that's really the fundamental ancient idea. We call it Hedonism from the Greek word for pleasure.

But it's important to remember that Epicurus took that in a non-obvious direction.

So for him we would get the most pleasure by eating barley cakes and water.

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