# Jeremy Bentham — Principia Ethica character guide

> Jeremy Bentham in Principia Ethica by G. E. Moore.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bentham, himself

**First appearance:** 0006-ii-naturalistic-ethics

## Snapshot

The founder of utilitarianism, whose hedonistic calculus Moore treats as the origin of a tradition that Mill and Spencer then muddled further.

## Who they are

Bentham stands at the head of the hedonistic lineage Moore examines, the source of the idea that pleasure alone is good and pain alone evil. Moore does not engage Bentham as extensively as Mill, but Bentham's shadow falls across the entire hedonism chapter — his calculus is the crude original that later utilitarians refined but never, in Moore's view, escaped. Bentham matters to the early arc because he represents the purest form of the error Moore is hunting: the assumption that because pleasure is good, 'good' must mean pleasure.

## Relationships

### [Henry Sidgwick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/principia_ethica_se/characters/henry_sidgwick)

_professional_

Sidgwick is presented as a successor and critic of Bentham's utilitarian calculus, refining Bentham's ideas within a more rigorous philosophical framework.

### [Herbert Spencer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/principia_ethica_se/characters/herbert_spencer)

_professional_

Spencer and Bentham are compared as utilitarian thinkers, with Spencer's evolutionary approach contrasted with Bentham's classical hedonism.

### [Henry Sidgwick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/principia_ethica_se/characters/henry_sidgwick)

_professional_

Sidgwick is presented as a successor and critic of Bentham's utilitarian calculus, refining Bentham's ideas within a more rigorous philosophical framework.

## In the story

### [I: The Subject-Matter of Ethics](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/principia_ethica_se/chapters/i-the-subject-matter-of-ethics)

Discussed in relation to the naturalistic fallacy, as his definition of 'right' as 'conducive to general happiness' is used to illustrate the fallacy.

### [III: Hedonism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/principia_ethica_se/chapters/iii-hedonism)

Listed among modern Utilitarians who hold Hedonism.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/principia_ethica_se/characters/jeremy_bentham
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/principia_ethica_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/principia_ethica_se/characters