felicific calculus
nounEtymology
Widely attributed to British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), but apparently used only by his successors.
Definitions
A quasi-mathematical technique proposed by 19th-century utilitarian ethical theorists for…
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."
- Peter Singer is a strict utilitarian who believes in the felicific calculus: that to behave ethically one’s actions must be calculated to bring about the maximum of pleasure and the minimum of pain.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for felicific calculus. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA