Jeremy Benthams work on The Principles of Morals and Legislation emerges from its historic roots in hedonism and teleology as a scientific attempt to assess the moral content of human action by focusing on its results or consequences. Proceeding from the assumption that human beings desire pleasure and avoid pain Benthams unique perspective known as utilitarianism is used to construct a fascinating calculus for determining which action to perform when confronted with situations requiring moral decisionmakingthe goal of which is to arrive at the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Toward this end he endeavors to delineate the sources and kinds of pleasure and pain and how they can be measured when assessing ones moral options.