Q.1-What is the common
principle in Epicurus’, Thomas Hobbes’ and Jeremy Bentham’s philosophy?
Ans. J S Mackenzie writes in
his ‘A manual of Ethics’ (p. 167), “Hedonism is the general term for those
theories that regarded happiness or pleasure as the supreme end of life”. In
fact this very word ’Hedonism’ has been derived from ‘hedone’ which means
‘happiness’. So happiness is the sole end of life, according to these
philosophers. Epicurus and Thomas Hobbs are considered as hedonist
philosophers. For Bentham also, ‘a good law is one in which “’utility” is
effected resulting in pleasure or happiness to the party whose interest is
concerned.
According to Epicurus,
anything which is unpleasant like fear and anxiety should be eliminated from
the life of man. And absence of pain and serenity of mind should be promoted.
He has used the Greek word ‘atarxia’ for it. He said that only by removal of
false fear like fear of death and fear of God, men could achieve atarxia. Fear
is discrimination of the quality and lastingness of pleasure and pain included
in actions is necessary for atarxia. Whatever is conducive to this final end of
life is moral, according to him. He
tried to encourage the emotions of well-being, harmony and pleasure. He used to call all his
followers in a beautiful
garden and seek after pleasure. But it
was not ‘wine–women-and-song’ kind of pleasure but something nobler and higher
like friendship, art, music and the like.
R.A.P. Rogers writes in his book “A Short History of Ethics” (p-88),
“Thus the highest good is not the pleasure of the moment, but the pleasure of
the whole life______. It is inferred from this that pleasures of the mind are
superior to those of the body, because they include the pleasures of memory and
hope”.
Like Epicurus, Hobbes was
also a hedonist philosopher. Pleasure
was the sole end for him. To achieve this end of peace, harmony and longer life
he set up the state. Various laws enacted by the state forced human beings to
act according to the laws of nature. In order to attain peace and harmony,
everybody had to sacrifice some of his freedom and craving to possess
everything for himself. According to
him, power is the necessary factor of law and it is the only option to curb the
natural desires of human beings to rape, loot and tyrannize. Forbidden actions are bad actions. To conform to the divine or positive (civil)
law is to act according to the norms of morality.
So, the ethical teachings of Hobbs has been termed by some
philosophers, as ‘Ethical Egoism’ because of its being based on the natural and
reasonable human urge to seek pleasure and self-preservation. According to others, it is ‘Social
Utilitarianism’ because it aims at peace and harmony for everybody. Another epithet used for Hobbes’ theory is
‘Moral Positivism’ because it mentions the divine power as the ultimate ground
of moral good and the criterion of morality.
Thus, we find that though
these hedonist thinkers aim at pleasure as the end of life but their concept of
pleasure is not limited to the individual itself but human being in general,
which is conducive for any society.
J Bentham writes in his
‘Principles of Morals’, ‘Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two
sovereign masters pain and pleasure. It
is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as what we shall
do’. J S Mill echoes the same as, ‘_ _ _ desiring a thing and finding it
pleasant, aversion to it and thinking of it a painful, are phenomena entirely inseparable, rather two parts of the
same phenomena , to think of an object as desirable and to think of it as
pleasant are one and the same thing’ ( J S Mill, Utilitarianism Chapter-4)
Bentham’s approach to ethical issues is individualistic,
whereas Mill’s is social. Mill says that not only the happiness of mankind but
“rather of all sentient beings” must be the matter of consideration for
us. According to utilitarianism,
‘greatest happiness of the greatest number’ must be the criterion for moral
assessment. Utility of any deed must be
the foundation of morals. According to
Bentham, ‘A good law is one in which ‘utility’ is effected resulting in
pleasure or happiness to the party whose interest is concerned. He says us that it is human nature that he
seeks pleasure and avoids pain. Though,
he writes that, it is not merely sensual pleasure that he is speaking about,
but it may be intellectual and philanthropic as well. The gross happiness of
Bentham was refined by Mill in asserting that there is also a qualitative
difference between pleasures and not just quantitative one. According to him
every individual seeks common happiness, not only individual one.
J. Bentham writes in his, ‘Principles of Morals’ that ‘nature
has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters pleasure and
pain. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do well as what we
shall do’.
He says that everybody wants happiness first of all for
himself. Even a philanthropist works for his or her own satisfaction. As he writes in his book, “Principles of
Morals”, ‘To obtain the greatest portion of happiness for himself is the
objective of every rational being. Every
man is nearer to himself than he can be to any other man and no other man can
weigh for him, his pleasures and pains’.
He says that not merely sensual pleasure but also that which
arises from intellectual study and benevolence, is the aim of human being. But the ultimate motive and intention of
every act of everybody is to achieve happiness.
He writes, ‘Dream not that men will move their little finger to serve
you unless their own advantage in so doing, be obvious to them. Men never did
so and never will, till human nature is made of present materials ______’.
Q.2-Briefly explain
Aristotle’s views on virtues.
Ans. Virtue, which is
defined as a ‘habitual state or disposition of the soul’ is for Aristotle the
‘golden mean between two extremes.’ He says that there are two types of virtues
i.e. moral and intellectual, which can help the human being to attain authentic
happiness. He holds the moderate view about virtue and says that ‘courage is
the virtue between the two extremes of foolhardiness and cowardice.
Q.3-What are the seven norms
proposed by Bentham for the measurement of pleasure?
Ans. Bentham has accepted
only quantitative difference of happiness not the qualitative one. He writes:
‘Quantity of pleasure being equal, pushpin is as good as poetry’. (J. Bentham
“Principles of Morals”) He has proposed seven norms for the measurement of the
quantity of happiness. He says that one should take into consideration the
intensity, duration, certainty, nearness, fecundity, purity and inclusiveness
of pleasure. By including benevolence Bentham has given his sense of pleasure
an altruistic value. He says that one should give priority to the acts which
will bring greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest number of persons for
the longest stretch of time.
detrimental for achieving
atarxia. According to him the
highest virtue is phronesis
i.e. discernment. The power of
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