Is the Concept of Utilitarianism a Golden Dream Towards Justice?a

Muskaan Singh
University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, India

Volume III, Issue IV, 2020

Jeremy Bentham propounded the principle of Utilitarianism. Bentham’s utilitarianism is a theory, which believes in highest principle of morality whether personal or political morality is to maximize the general welfare i.e. the collective happiness of the majority of people. It talks about overall balance of pleasure over pain. Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarianism was devised for the welfare of people, but people started posing objection towards Bentham.

John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham’s disciple eventually in 1861 wrote the book Utilitarianism in order to deal with these objections. This research paper aims to find out how was utilitarianism planning to hold the society with its principles. And can the concept of utilitarianism be used today in the 21st century judgments to deliver justice?

This paper will also try to dig into the objections raised towards utilitarianism and how John Stuart Mill answered all these objections.

The research methodology used in the paper will be doctrinal in nature, with the use of case laws, legal books, articles and legal databases.

Keywords: utilitarianism, society, morality, utility, happiness