Pages

Monday 21 February 2011

Topshop Utilitarian + a brief introduction to the philosophy of Utilitarianism

First the polish. Worst pictures EVER. It looks gritty (it isn't), it looks very dark (it isn't). The bottle shows it properly. It's a lovely polish IRL.


2 coats. One might do it. I tried so desperately hard to get an accurate photo but cannot explain what went wrong. Familiar Topshop quality.

Now on to the much more interesting meat after the disappointing hors d'oeuvre.

Utilitarianism 

This fascinated me as a teenager when I read an article (Sunday supplement, I think) about Jeremy Bentham. He died in 1832 and left his body to medical science. In the 60s or 70s his head was still on display in one of the London University colleges and there was a picture of it which both intrigued and disgusted me. Being a typical teenager with an interest in the macabre and radical thought I was hugely interested. Bentham advocated sexual equality and the liberalisation of laws against homosexuals amongst other things. Good egg.

This is NOT the real head which is now safely locked away as it became the target for student pranks (yuk!) but I believe that the skeleton stuffed with straw does remain the basis of the body.


Utilitarianism is swiftly described as ".. the greatest good for the greatest number.." Now read on!
This means that all acts require "Felicific calculus" to achieve "the greatest pleasure for the greatest number." Therefore there are definite rules and codes as to what the person must do in each situation to benefit the most people. The hedonic calculus is what Bentham thought all people must do before deciding the utility of the certain act in question. It is dependent on:
  • Its intensity.
  • Its duration.
  • Its certainty or uncertainty.
  • Its propinquity, or remoteness.
  • Its fecundity, or the chance it has of being followed by similar sensations: that is, pleasures, if it is pleasure: pains, if it is pain.
  • Its purity, or the chance it has of not being followed by, sensations of the opposite kind: that is, pain, if it is pleasure: pleasure, if it is pain.
  • Its extent (the number of people who are affected by it).
Hedonic calculus? It sounds so good, no? The text in italics is from wiki.

It's one way to determine your actions and not a bad one at that. Discuss.

Jenni

13 comments:

  1. And now it's got a nail polish named after it :P

    ReplyDelete
  2. I remember being taught/indoctrinated about Utilitarianism back in the day. Well, Year Nine (same thing, amirite?)

    Why would people play pranks with a body? Gross. Have some respect :P

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jeremy Bentham would be proud! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, it's also a movement in fashion dedicated to the .... utilitarian. Suits this economy-era we have upon us.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like the colour, these kind of colours look so much nicer on nails than they do in the bottle :)
    Also, eww, who would play a prank with a head?!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You're the psychologist, Gem!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great post.

    my weblog ... agranda tu pene

    ReplyDelete
  8. I believe that is among the most important information for
    me. And i'm glad studying your article. But want to statement on some common things, The website taste is wonderful, the articles is in reality great : D. Just right activity, cheers

    Review my site - como engrossar o penis

    ReplyDelete
  9. Heya this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually
    code with HTML. I'm starting a blog soon but have no coding experience so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!

    My site aumento de penis

    ReplyDelete
  10. Link exchange is nothing else but it is only placing the other person's website link on your page at proper place and other person will also do similar for you.

    Here is my website como agrandar el miembro masculino

    ReplyDelete
  11. Incredible story there. What occurred after? Take care!



    My web page ... tamanho do penis

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog.
    Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Either way keep up the
    excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this
    one nowadays.

    my homepage; simply click the up coming internet page

    ReplyDelete
  13. Having read this I believed it was rather enlightening.
    I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this content together.

    I once again find myself personally spending way too much time both reading and commenting.
    But so what, it was still worth it!

    Feel free to visit my site - www.oncams.pl

    ReplyDelete