I have just stumbled upon Bentham's
concept of felicific calculus, a way of calculating the amount of pleasure or
pain a specific action will bring, and whether or not it equates to the right
moral action. Bentham was a hedonist, meaning that all actions leading to
pleasure should result in the correct moral one. I am not a hedonist,
however if you take into account the calculus of applying whether or not a
certain action causes more pain the pleasure it provides, the concept is more
valuable.
I've been doing this moral calculus
unconsciously for most of my life, most recently when weighing the pros and
cons of moving to Thailand with my wife and son. Last year we made a
chart and discussed each way the decision would benefit us or hurt us, with our
son being another variable. We ultimately decided that staying in the
U.S.A. would bring us the most pleasure. The pains of moving to Thailand
played a large role in this unconscious calculus we performed. I think
Bentham would have been proud.
Whenever you're uncertain about whether an
action will be good or bad for you, it's worth your time to make a chart
listing the pros and cons, as I did. Solving this moral equation could
mean the difference between a life of pain and a life of pleasure, both for you
and those around you.
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