felicific calculus

Englisch - Englisch

Definition von felicific calculus im Englisch Englisch wörterbuch

A quasi-mathematical technique proposed by 19th-century utilitarian ethical theorists for determining the net amount of happiness, pleasure, or utility resulting from an action, sometimes regarded as a precursor of cost-benefit analysis

Bentham's way of becoming the Newton of the moral world was to develop the felicific calculus..

Silbentrennung

fe·li·cif·ic cal·cu·lus

Synonyme

hedonic calculus, hedonistic calculus, moral arithmetic, utility calculus

Etymologie

() Widely attributed to British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), but apparently used only by his successors.The technique of felicific calculus was famously described by Bentham in chapter 4 of An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789), although Bentham did not use the precise term "felicific calculus" in that work.