Meanings
- historicaleconomicsA quasi-mathematical technique proposed by 19th-century utilitarian ethical theorists for determining the net amount of happiness, pleasure, or utility resulting from an action, sometimes regarded as a precursor of cost-benefit analysis.
Bentham's way of becoming the Newton of the moral world was to develop the "felicific calculus."
1918, Wesley C. Mitchell, “Bentham's Felicific Calculus”, in Political Science Quarterly, volume 33, number 2, page 1641 more example
Peter Singer is a strict utilitarian who believes in the felicific calculus: that to behave ethically one’s actions must be calculated to bring about the maximum of pleasure and the minimum of pain.
2011, Theodore Dalrymple, Spoilt Rotten: The Toxic Cult of SentimentalitySynonyms: hedonic calculus, hedonistic calculus, moral arithmetic, utility calculus
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA quasi-mathematical technique proposed by 19th-century utilitarian ethical theorists for determining the net amount of happiness, pleasure, or utility resulting from an action, sometimes regarded as a precursor of cost-benefit analysis.
Origin
Widely attributed to British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), but apparently used only by his successors.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
felicific calculus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/felicific%20calculus
“felicific calculus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/felicific%20calculus. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “felicific calculus,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/felicific%20calculus.
Source: felicific calculus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.