Benthams Principle of Utility - Principles of Legislation
1.9 هزار بار بازدید -
6 ماه پیش
-
One of the simplest principles
One of the simplest principles that explains the reason behind the why and the how of the creation of laws is Bentham’s principle of utility.
Bentham was a proponent of the philosophy of utilitarianism; and the principle of utility is a fundamental concept of this philosophy.
Here, the term ‘utility’ has a broad meaning - it can mean happiness, convenience, benefit, pleasure or it can also be anything that prevents or minimizes harm, pain or unhappiness.
The basic idea behind this principle is that the actions or the policies of the people who make the law should be to aimed at creating utility for the maximum number of people.
Since it is practically impossible to make everybody happy at the same time, all the time; the actions or policies may lead to some inconvenience, pain or suffering or unhappiness to a smaller number of people.
For example, the speed limit on a road may be fixed at 60 kms per hour. You may have a car that is capable of comfortably cruising at 100 kms per hour, and you may be a very good driver and you may also believe that your time is getting wasted because of being forced to travel at a slower speed.
But, the reason for the speed limit is to ensure the safety and therefore create utility for the maximum number of people.
So, a lesser number of people who have better cars, who may be better drivers may be inconvenienced due to the lower speed.
Another example that I have experienced is when a street near my house was converted to a one way.
Since I had to frequently go to a shop on that street, it became an inconvenience for me - because I had to go around and drive an extra two kilometres to enter the street from the other side.
Similarly, all the people who had offices or shops on that street were inconvenienced.
But, the one-way created a utility for a much higher number of people by reducing traffic jams.
Bentham was a proponent of the philosophy of utilitarianism; and the principle of utility is a fundamental concept of this philosophy.
Here, the term ‘utility’ has a broad meaning - it can mean happiness, convenience, benefit, pleasure or it can also be anything that prevents or minimizes harm, pain or unhappiness.
The basic idea behind this principle is that the actions or the policies of the people who make the law should be to aimed at creating utility for the maximum number of people.
Since it is practically impossible to make everybody happy at the same time, all the time; the actions or policies may lead to some inconvenience, pain or suffering or unhappiness to a smaller number of people.
For example, the speed limit on a road may be fixed at 60 kms per hour. You may have a car that is capable of comfortably cruising at 100 kms per hour, and you may be a very good driver and you may also believe that your time is getting wasted because of being forced to travel at a slower speed.
But, the reason for the speed limit is to ensure the safety and therefore create utility for the maximum number of people.
So, a lesser number of people who have better cars, who may be better drivers may be inconvenienced due to the lower speed.
Another example that I have experienced is when a street near my house was converted to a one way.
Since I had to frequently go to a shop on that street, it became an inconvenience for me - because I had to go around and drive an extra two kilometres to enter the street from the other side.
Similarly, all the people who had offices or shops on that street were inconvenienced.
But, the one-way created a utility for a much higher number of people by reducing traffic jams.
6 ماه پیش
در تاریخ 1402/11/21 منتشر شده
است.
1,954
بـار بازدید شده