Meaning and Definition, Basic Principles, Arguments in Favour and Against

Bentham wanted a science of happiness precise enough to calculate; Gandhi wanted the welfare of the very last person in the queue, not the arithmetic average of everyone in it. Both claim to care about the good of all, yet they would judge many of the same policies in opposite ways — and this topic asks you to see exactly why.

In two minutes

Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism proposes a calculable 'felicific calculus' of pleasure and pain to guide law and policy toward the greatest total happiness, while Gandhi's idea of Sarvodaya rejects aggregate calculation in favour of the upliftment of all, especially the weakest — a contrast that sharpens exactly what utilitarianism's arguments for and against turn on.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Political Science – II: Foundations of Political Obligation on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.