Kinds / Measure / Value of Pleasures and Pains — Interpretation of Statutes Notes

Kinds / Measure / Value of Pleasures and Pains

If a law is to be judged by the happiness it produces, happiness must somehow be measured. Bentham’s boldest move was to claim you can — he offered a “felicific calculus”, a set of seven factors by which to weigh a pleasure or a pain almost like a sum. “Sum up all the values of all the pleasures on the one side, and those of all the pains on the other,” he wrote, “the balance … is the good or bad tendency of the act.” This measuring method is the practical engine of utilitarianism.

How does Bentham classify and measure pleasures and pains?

Bentham treats pleasure and pain as the only ultimate values, and provides a way to classify and measure them so the legislator can compare the effects of a law.

A. The value of a single pleasure or pain — the felicific calculus. To measure the value of a pleasure or a pain considered by itself, Bentham gives four basic circumstances:

1. Intensity — how strong the pleasure or pain is.
2. Duration — how long it lasts.
3. Certainty or uncertainty — how likely it is to occur.
4. Propinquity or remoteness — how soon (near or far off) it will come.

To measure the value of a pleasure or pain considered with reference to the act that produces it, Bentham adds two more:

5. Fecundity — the chance it has of being followed by more sensations of the same kind (a pleasure followed by more pleasures; a pain by more pains).
6. Purity — the chance it has of not being followed by sensations of the opposite kind (a pleasure not followed by pain).

And when it affects a number of persons, one final circumstance:

7. Extent — the number of persons affected by it.

Bentham’s method: for each person affected, sum the pleasures and pains (using these factors), then sum across all persons; the balance shows the good or bad tendency of the act or law.

B. The kinds of pleasures and pains. Bentham also classifies the kinds of simple pleasures and pains. The chief pleasures include those of: sense, wealth, skill, amity (friendship), a good name (reputation), power, piety, benevolence (good-will), malevolence (ill-will), memory, imagination, expectation, association, and relief (from pain). The pains run in parallel — of the senses, of privation, of enmity, of an ill name, and so on. Complex pleasures and pains are combinations of these simple ones.

Bentham (the felicific calculus): “Sum up all the values of all the pleasures on the one side, and those of all the pains on the other. The balance, if it be on the side of pleasure, will give the good tendency of the act … if on the side of pain, the bad tendency of it.”

In Simple Terms: Bentham says you can measure a pleasure or pain by seven factors — intensity, duration, certainty, nearness (propinquity), fecundity, purity, and extent (how many people). Add up the pleasures and pains a law produces across everyone affected; the balance shows whether the law is good or bad. He also lists the kinds of pleasures (sense, wealth, friendship, reputation, power, benevolence, etc.) and their matching pains.

🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — Weighing two policies by the calculus

Facts. A legislator must choose between two measures. Measure A gives a strong but brief pleasure to a few; Measure B gives a milder but lasting benefit to a very large number, with little risk of later harm.

Rule. Apply the felicific calculus — weigh intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity and, crucially, extent (number of persons) — and sum the balance.

Apply. Measure A scores on intensity but loses on duration and extent (few people, short-lived). Measure B scores on duration, purity and especially extent (very many people), even if less intense.

Conclusion. On the calculus, Measure B produces the greater net happiness for the greatest number and is the better law — extent and duration outweigh mere intensity for a few.

flowchart TD
    ROOT["Measuring pleasures & pains (felicific calculus)"]:::root
    ROOT --> A["By itself: intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> B["By its act: fecundity, purity"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> C["For many: extent (number of persons)"]:::leaf
    A --> D["Sum pleasures vs pains across all persons"]:::leaf
    B --> D
    C --> D
    D --> E["Balance = good or bad tendency of the law"]:::leaf
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    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
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Key Points & Sources

• The seven factors — intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, extent — are Bentham’s felicific (hedonistic) calculus.
• The first four measure a pleasure/pain by itself; fecundity and purity relate it to its act; extent brings in the number of persons.
• The kinds of simple pleasures/pains (sense, wealth, skill, amity, good name, power, piety, benevolence, malevolence, memory, imagination, expectation, association, relief) let the legislator identify what kind of happiness a law touches.

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