felicific calculus
Hedonic decision math
Felicific calculus is a method proposed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham for measuring pleasure and pain to determine the moral worth of an action.
The calculus weighs factors like intensity, duration, certainty, and extent of the happiness produced.
Also called the hedonic calculus or utility calculus, it underlies utilitarian ethics: The felicific calculus suggests we should maximize total happiness.
Utilitarian ethics founder
- utilitarianismGreatest-happiness moral theory
- hedonismPursuit of gratification
- consequentialismEthics judging by results
- John Stuart MillBritish empiricist and reformer
Happy, satisfied feeling
- painBodily or emotional distress
- intensityStrength or force level
- durationLength of existence
- certaintyTotal absence of doubt
propinquity · fecundity · purity · extent · measurement · weighing · summation · aggregation
Right and wrong principles
- normativeSetting behavioral standards
- consequentialismEthics judging by results
- goodnessMoral excellence
- rightnessState of being correct
duty · beneficence · justice · impartiality · welfare · interests · altruism · ethical theory
Systematic comparison of advantages, disadvantages
- optimizationMaximizing efficiency or performance
- trade-offsSacrifices for gains
- maximizationAchieving greatest possible amount
- evaluationDetermining worth or quality
assessment · algorithm · expected value · rational choice · efficiency · outcomes · alternatives · deliberation
Bentham
Utilitarian ethics founder
- utilitarianismGreatest-happiness moral theory
- hedonismPursuit of gratification
- consequentialismEthics judging by results
pleasure
Happy, satisfied feeling
certainty · propinquity · fecundity · purity · extent · measurement · weighing · summation · aggregation · units
morality
Right and wrong principles
- normativeSetting behavioral standards
- consequentialismEthics judging by results
- goodnessMoral excellence
rightness · duty · beneficence · justice · impartiality · welfare · interests · altruism · ethical theory · harm reduction
cost-benefit analysis
Systematic comparison of advantages, disadvantages
- optimizationMaximizing efficiency or performance
- trade-offsSacrifices for gains
- maximizationAchieving greatest possible amount
evaluation · assessment · algorithm · expected value · rational choice · efficiency · outcomes · alternatives · deliberation
- ethicsmorality, deontology, dignity, sanctity of life, utilitarianism
- calculusderivatives, integral, integrals, limits, chain rule
felicific calculusgut instinct
Immediate unreasoned knowing
moral intuition · conscience · practical wisdom · rule of thumb · casuistry
felicific calculusmoral intuition
Immediate ethical judgment
gut feeling · conscience · practical wisdom · instinct · tradition
calculate, calculation, calculator, calcium, felicity, felicitous, incalculable, calcify, calculus