The term utilitarianism comes from Latin and is composed of the word utilitas which means quality of usefulness and by the suffix ism which is doctrine. Utilitarianism comes from a philosophical doctrine that is used as a principle of morality, in addition to being a branch of the theological ethical system that indicates the moral conception based on the final result.
During the nineteenth century, one of the most important philosophical ethics was utilitarianism, since it has among its fundamental principles what is known as social welfare. Without forgetting another of its maxims or most important objectives, such as the promotion of all freedoms.
The renowned Jeremy Bentham, was one of the pioneers in the development of this philosophy, since he raised his ethical system around the notion of pleasure and away from physical pain. For Bentham, utilitarianism is related to hedonism, since he considers that moral actions are those that maximize pleasure and minimize human pain.
It is worth bearing in mind that the rupture that Bentham indicated with respect to the classicism of previous societies through a work which he entitled "Introduction to the principles of morality and legislation." Thanks to this type of demonstration, this researcher made it clear that the good thing will be anything that gives pleasure to a large number of individuals without in any case taking into account their social status. This statement ensured that with the creation and development of what he called the calculation of pleasures, a series of rules and regulations that helped him to be clear, based on these criteria, what was good and what was bad.
Another important researcher who immersed himself in utilitarianism was John Stuart Mil, ensuring that pleasure or happiness should be calculated from the greatest good for the greatest number of people, however he recognizes that certain pleasures have a higher quality than others.
The contributions that Mil made were diverse, with respect to utilitarianism, highlighting the fact that he considered society to be able to have moral quality, it had to be educated and informed.
