Hedonism and Utilitarianism: Principles of Moral Calculation

The Hedonistic Tradition

How can we be happy? Ethics starts with another tradition: Hedonism. This philosophy is based on three core points:

• All living beings seek pleasure and flee from pain.
• Happiness consists of organizing our lives to achieve maximum pleasure and minimum pain.
• Because we aim for a maximum, moral reasoning becomes a calculating reason.

Individual and Social Hedonism

The Epicurean hedonist is individualistic. However, in modernity, hedonism evolved into a social form known as Utilitarianism. We are human beings endowed with social feelings, using sympathy—the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes—as a source of satisfaction. This leads us to extend our desire for happiness to others. The principle of morality is, therefore, the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people, serving as a criterion for rational decision-making.

Epicurus and Calculating Reason

Epicurus distinguishes between two types of pleasure:

• Stable pleasure: The harmony produced by the absence of bodily pain and agitation in the soul.
• Positive pleasure: Such as joy.

Stable pleasures are considered superior. For example, if we are hungry and eat, we experience the pleasure of removing pain; however, if we continue eating, we do not increase the pleasure. Therefore, reason must perform a calculation, considering which pleasures are more intense and durable, and which result in less pain.

The Arithmetic of Pleasures

Jeremy Bentham introduced an arithmetic of pleasures, believing that all pleasures are equal in quality. According to intensity, duration, proximity, and certainty, one can calculate the greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest number of sentient beings.

Conversely, John Stuart Mill argued that pleasures differ in quality. This creates a problem: who is entitled to decide which pleasures are higher or lower? Mill believed that those who have experienced both kinds of pleasures are the best judges. He considered intellectual and moral pleasures to be higher, while those that resemble animal instincts are lower.