Compatibility or Incompatibility of Bentham's Utilitarianism with the Quran's Doctrine

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy, Qom, Iran

Abstract

Moral utilitarianism is one of the most significant and common theories in normative ethics, which gained prominence with the utilitarian utterance of Bentham's crime, and different interpretations of it have always been presented with various modifications. Some Muslim thinkers, familiar with Bentham's theory of utilitarianism, have tried to make it compatible with Quranic teachings by adding a clause or constraint. In addition, they have considered Quranic verses to support Bentham's seven criteria. The basic objection of such thinkers to Bentham is that he has limited profit to pleasure only, and that is worldly pleasure, while from the point of view of religion, profit and pleasure are both worldly benefits, pleasures and include the pleasures of the Hereafter. The important point is that before we look for the verses that confirm Bentham's utilitarian theory and his seven criteria, we must see whether there is any possibility of a new interpretation of utilitarianism based on the verses of the Quran. Therefore, in this article, in addition to reviewing and criticizing this view, the impossibility of a new interpretation of utilitarianism based on the verses of the Quran is explained.

Keywords

References

  1. * Holy Quran.

    * Nahj al-Balagha.

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Theosophia Islamica
Volume 1, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
December 2021
Pages 48-74

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