Final answer:
Jeremy Bentham's approach to decision making involves using the principle of utility, calculating potential happiness, and choosing the action that maximizes happiness for the greatest number, based on impartiality and benevolence.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Jeremy Bentham, a founder of utilitarianism, we decide on a course of action by employing the principle of utility. This consequentialist philosophy suggests that an action is deemed right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it tends to produce the opposite. To make a decision, Bentham would:
Consider all available options for action.
Calculate the potential happiness each action could produce, considering the interests and well-being of all affected individuals.
Choose the action that maximizes happiness or utility, ensuring the greatest good for the greatest number.
For example, when faced with a moral dilemma, the utilitarian approach involves identifying the individuals affected by the decision and estimating the impact of each possible action on their happiness.
The assumptions underlying this calculation include impartiality (considering everyone's happiness equally) and benevolence (striving to produce the most overall happiness).
So, Jeremy Bentham's approach to decision making involves using the principle of utility, calculating potential happiness.