Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

felicific calculus

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: fe-li-ci-fic -cal-cu-lus
IPA

31

Scrabble Score

17

Letters

7

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A 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.

Example Sentences

"Bentham's way of becoming the Newton of the moral world was to develop the "felicific calculus.""
"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."

Etymology

Widely attributed to British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), but apparently used only by his successors.

Synonyms

hedonic calculus hedonistic calculus moral arithmetic utility calculus

Questions

What does felicific calculus mean?: A 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.
Where does felicific calculus come from?: Widely attributed to British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), but apparently used only by his successors.

How to pronounce felicific calculus

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