The Study Of The Utilitarian Happiness

Utilitarian happiness is often misunderstood in people's lives. Some people take it as the replacement of the individual's pursuit of happiness and interests and account it as the substitution for egoism, money worship, hedonism and even the decayed thoughts of capitalist society. Others view utilitarianism as social benefits, collective interests first and thus ignore personal interests. To understand the connotation of utilitarian happiness, it's necessary, in this paper, to elaborate and summarize its developing process and attitude transformation for interests systematically.Utilitarian happiness is put forward by the Classical Utilitarianism School in the second half of the 18th century. It was represented by Bentham, William Godwin and Mill, taken"the greatest happiness of the majority"as the supreme principle, to guide people to pursue personal interests, happiness, to coordinate the relationship of individual happiness and social well-being, to achieve the interests and welfare maximization ultimately.Scholars of utilitarianism consider that people were born with the instinct to pursue happiness and prevent suffering with the pursuit of maximum happiness and benefits as the ultimate objectives of their lives. Morality is also the means to achieve those. What our people did which can increase their happiness or interests are all good, or else are evil. Utilitarian happiness includes those three parts: the basis of happiness and suffering, complete statement of interests issue and the achievement of the greatest happiness for the most people.China is committed to establish and improve the socialist market economic system at present, in which the pursuit of economic benefits, maximum efficiency and personal interests become the creed for most people. Utilitarianism of happiness---- "the greatest happiness for the most people" will play a guilding role to correct some immoral behaviors and narrow the gap between rich and poor in its developing process.