ABSTRACT
In the eighteenth century, there also came into being a very different concept of political philosophy, later called “utilitarianism.” In 1725, the Irish-English philosopher Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746) articulated the formula destined for fame: “That Action is best which procures the greatest Happiness for the greatest Numbers; and that worst, which, in like manner, occasions misery.”3 Although Hutcheson used the term “Action” to refer to personal conduct, not government policy, the principle he annunciated became the foundation of a system of anti-individualistic political philosophy that Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) named “utilitarianism.”4
