What Is Jeremy Bentham's "Hedonistic Calculus"? What Might This Device

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The Answer is Jeremy Bentham's "hedonistic calculus" is a method for calculating the amount of pleasure or pain that an action will produce. Bentham believed that all human actions are motivated by the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, and he sought to create a systematic way of measuring and comparing the potential outcomes of different actions.

This device tells us about the Age of Reason in that it reflects the emphasis on rationality, logic, and empirical evidence that characterized this period. In the Age of Reason, there was a strong belief in the power of human reason to solve problems and improve society, and the hedonistic calculus can be seen as an attempt to apply this rational approach to the understanding of human behavior and morality.

The type of arguments that would be considered important in such an age would be those based on empirical evidence and logical reasoning. In the case of the hedonistic calculus, the focus would be on quantifying and comparing the potential pleasure and pain produced by different actions, and using this information to make rational decisions about which actions to take.

An example of how to use the hedonistic calculus might be to consider whether to take a job offer. One would list the potential pleasures and pains associated with the job, such as the salary, the work environment, the commute, and the potential for career advancement. Each of these factors would be assigned a numerical value based on their perceived impact on pleasure or pain, and these values would be added up to determine the overall expected utility of taking the job. This rational calculation could then be used to make a decision based on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.

What Is Jeremy Bentham's "Hedonistic Calculus"? What Might This Device

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What Is Jeremy Bentham's "Hedonistic Calculus"? What Might This Device

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