... action A may be the most appropriate, while under other circumstances action B might bring more happiness to more people. Therefore, an action is justified in terms of its usefulness in any one particular case. The theory is therefore one of universal ethical hedonism. If an action brings or increases pleasure (happiness) then it is right. Bentham proposed the 'Hedonic calculus' to calculate the most pleasurable action. Seven elements are taken into consideration; the intensity, duration, certainty, remoteness, choice of there being further pleasures, purity (not followed by pain) and extent of the pleasure. It would therefore be theoretically possible to calculate whom it was morally right to rescue first from a fire; a child, a pregnant woman, an old man or a scientist who possesses the formula for the ultimate cure for cancer. John Stuart Mill developed the principle by referring to qualitative rather than quantitative pleasure. Mill was ...

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