In today's article we want to explore the fascinating world of Felicific calculus. From its emergence to its impact on current society, Felicific calculus has been the subject of focus and debate in different areas. Throughout this article, we will examine its evolution over time, as well as its many facets and its influence on different aspects of life. In addition, we will analyze its relevance in the current context and its potential for the future. Felicific calculus is a fascinating topic that never ceases to surprise us, and through this article we hope to shed new light on its importance and meaning in our lives.
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The felicific calculus is an algorithm formulated by utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) for calculating the degree or amount of pleasure that a specific action is likely to induce. Bentham, an ethical hedonist, believed the moral rightness or wrongness of an action to be a function of the amount of pleasure or pain that it produced. The felicific calculus could in principle, at least, determine the moral status of any considered act. The algorithm is also known as the utility calculus, the hedonistic calculus and the hedonic calculus.
To be included in this calculation are several variables (or vectors), which Bentham called "circumstances". These are:
To take an exact account of the general tendency of any act, by which the interests of a community are affected, proceed as follows. Begin with any one person of those whose interests seem most immediately to be affected by it: and take an account,
To make his proposal easier to remember, Bentham devised what he called a "mnemonic doggerel" (also referred to as "memoriter verses"), which synthesized "the whole fabric of morals and legislation":
Intense, long, certain, speedy, fruitful, pure—
Such marks in pleasures and in pains endure.
Such pleasures seek if private be thy end:
If it be public, wide let them extend
Such pains avoid, whichever be thy view:
If pains must come, let them extend to few.
The units of measurements used in the felicific calculus may be termed hedons and dolors.