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What is Utilitarianism?

Melvyn Bragg is in the pursuit of happiness with Jeremy Bentham’s moral theory, utilitarianism. According to Bentham, happiness is the means for assessing the utility of an act, declaring "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong." Melvyn speaks to Janet Radcliffe Richards, Professor of Practical Philosophy at the University of Oxford to find out why stealing, according to Bentham, would be morally required.

First broadcast on In Our Time, 11 June 2015.

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4 minutes

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