In trying to justify socio-political acts as well as
legislations, nothing is more abused by politicians than Jeremy
Bentham’s Principle of Utility (more popularly referred to as
the Utilitarian Principle). Many politicians – senior ones
included – would refer to the Utilitarian Principle and quote
whatever they could muster out of it in their attempt at
justifying, for example, the necessity for undertaking certain
actions which is based solely or primarily by the fact that it
is the “rights of the majority” to do so. To put it simply, it
is said that “we are mandated by the majority and therefore we
have the authority to do this.” If only Jeremy Bentham was still
alive and not just a preserved skeleton and head all dressed up
and sitting down in his “Auto-icon” in University College,
London. If he was, I am sure he would die of laughing so hard at
such preposterous utilisation (pun not intended) of his
Utilitarian Principle. Essentially, Bentham, in his seminal
work, “An Introduction to the Principles of Mo