According to Mill and Bentham, utilitarianism boils down to the persuit of pleasure for the greatest amount of people and the avoidance of pain.
Does this make it any different from hedonism then?
hypnoticduck45
Favorite Answer
Utilitarianism is different from Hedonism because it asks an individual to think about more than his own particular desires or pleasures of the moment and to consider a) the pleasures that an individual could acieve over the long term from forgoing instant pleasures (i.e. choosing to study for a test instead of going out and having fun with your friends because you know that you will get more pleasure out of doing well on the test than a night of drinking) and 2) to consider the overall well being of others in the community (i.e. a utilitarian might choose to sacrifice his own life if it would save the life of the rest of the people on earth).
grigsby
Utilitarianism And Hedonism