A Study On Classical Utilitarian Ethics

Utilitarianism, also be known as the doctrine of gaining the greatest happiness, isone of the most influential schools in the history of Western Ethics. The BritishClassical Utilitarian Ethics is one of the important stages of its development, and themain representatives are Bentham and Mill. Its formation and development processreflects the character of inheritability and reality. The theory absorbs the basic idea ofancient Greece’s hedonism, modern British’s empiricism, modern French’smaterialism and theology utilitarianism; also, it reflects the profit of the capitalist,playing an important role in promoting the social revolution in England in the18th-century.Classical Utilitarian Ethics emphasizes on the study of human happiness andwell-being, where "happiness" is regards as the core concept and "the greatesthappiness of the most people" the pursuit of its ultimate value. Around the discussionof happiness, the Classical Utilitarian founds a systemic concept of happiness, whichtakes the hedonism as the theoretical basis, the consequences doctrine as theevaluation criteria, and the greatest happiness as the value target.Firstly, the paper illustrates the development process of the Happiness theory ofClassical Utilitarian. By introducing the background and ideological origin of theHappiness theory, we know the historical conditions of its formation. Secondly, theauthor makes a detailed description of the basic concepts of the theory. By analyzingthe premise of human nature-"pursuing happiness and avoiding suffering", theutilitarian theory, the greatest happiness of the most people, the paper illuminates themain connotations of Classical Utilitarianism. Then, the author makes an analysisfrom both theoretical contribution and limitation. Finally, the author discusses Marxisttheory of Happiness and makes a brief discussion about the construction issue of"Social Happiness" in Socialist Harmonious society of China.