Benthamism

American  

[ben-thuh-miz-uhm, -tuh-] / ˈbɛn θəˌmɪz əm, -tə- /

noun

1. the utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham.

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Benthamism British  

/ ˈbɛnθəˌmɪzəm /

noun

1. the philosophy of utilitarianism as first expounded by Jeremy Bentham in terms of an action being good that has a greater tendency to augment the happiness of the community than to diminish it

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Other Word Forms

• Benthamic adjective
• Benthamite noun

Etymology

Origin of Benthamism

First recorded in 1820–30; Bentham + -ism

Example Sentences

The failure was of the sort which was inevitably incident to Benthamism.

From A Short History of English Liberalism by Blease, Walter Lyon

Bentham himself was an admirer of Owen and supported his philanthropy, but, as expressions of a social attitude, Benthamism and Owenism were poles asunder.

From Recent Developments in European Thought by Various

It is easy to find fallacies in the philosophy of Benthamism.

From A Short History of English Liberalism by Blease, Walter Lyon

The English Miss Sedgwick deserves the thanks of humanity for putting Benthamism into clean purple and fine linen.

From Sketches of Reforms and Reformers, of Great Britain and Ireland by Stanton, Henry B.

Let Benthamism reign, if men have no aspirations; but do not tell them to be romantic and then solace them with ‘glory:’ do not attempt by philosophy what once was done by religion.

From An Essay In Aid Of A Grammar Of Assent by Newman, John Henry