"Man does not strive after happiness;
only the Englishman does."
F. Nietzsche, "The Twilight of the Idols".
Since its foundation by J. Bentham in the late 18th century and its further development by J.S. Mill, H. Sidgwick and several other philosophers, utilitarianism has been one of the most controversial moral theories.
The theory's underlying idea is, that only such acts are right which produce and maximise happiness as their outcome, in other words, "... utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as the tend to promote happiness, wrong a…
