Jeremy Bentham and his Contribution to Ethics - Essay Example

Utilitarianism is probably the greatest work by Jeremy Bentham. The ethical foundations he laid down are still widely accepted by the general public. Bentham based his moral philosophy of Utilitarianism on public good and happiness. He argued that people should act in a way to maximize public good for the maximum number of people (Bentham, 3).

The moral philosophy of Bentham became famous because it was representative of human nature. Before Bentham moral philosophy was based on complex principles and there was a divide between moral philosophies and the general public. Bentham brought moral philosophy and ethics within the grasp of the general public. The concept of maximum good for the maximum people is quite easy to understand and this is one reason why people still discuss and apply this theory when facing ethical dilemmas. Jeremy Bentham got his bachelor's and master's degrees from The Queen’s College, Oxford.

He was from an educated family therefore he got all the necessary training and education from his family. Bentham presented many social reforms related to the prison system, women, and economic freedom. He was an ardent proponent of women’s rights and thought that women should get equal rights to men. Bentham’s philosophy aimed to maximize the public benefit and minimize the pain of the people. All of the social reforms and changes in the legislature suggested by Bentham were based on the principle of maximum utility of the society.

He thought that laws should be aimed to benefit the public in general so that the overall happiness of society can be increased. Pleasure and pain according to Bentham were the main motivators of human action therefore his ethics is based upon increasing pleasure and reducing pain of the maximum number of people in the society. The contribution of Jeremy Bentham to the subject of ethics is great because his theory of utilitarianism is stills studied in every ethics-related course all over the globe.

Bentham gave a general principle which seems simple but was no less than a revolution in ethics. The focus of Bentham on the consequences paved the way for the consequentialist theories of ethics which focus on the consequences of the action. The ethical system suggested by Bentham was simple and this is one of his greatest achievements because at his time philosophy was all about giving difficult and complex theories. The name of Bentham will always be remembered in ethics.